INQUIRY. 

INTO THE 

SECONDARY C A USE S 

WHICH 

MR GIBBON HAS ASSIGNED 

FOR THE 

RAPID GROWTH OF CHRISTIANITY 



By the Hoar. SIR DAVID DALRYMPLE, Bar : 

ONE OF THE JUDGES OF THE COURTS OF SESSION 
JUSTICIARY IN SCOTLAND. 



JUSTIN MAKIVR. 



THE SECOND EDITION. 



To which is prefixed, 
A BRIEF MEMOIR OF THE LIFE AND WRITING: 
OF THE AUTHOR. 



PRINTED BY J. RITCHIE, 
FOR A. JOHNSTONE, GRASS-MARKET, EDINBURGH. 

old by J. Ogle, W. Blackwood, u ^ A. Black; Ogle, Glasgow 
E. Lesslie, Dundee ; and by J. J tckard, W. Kent, 
Williams 6c Smith, and J I nix, London. 

1808. 



I 



GRATEFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY 
INSCRIBED 

BY 1 

SIR DAVID DALRYMPLE 

TO 

RICHARD BISHOP OF WORCESTER. 

MDCCLXXXVL 



A 

BRIEF MEMOIR 

OF THE 

LIFE AND WRITINGS OF THE AUTHOR, 



Sir David Dalrymple was the el- 
dest of sixteen children of Sir James 
Dalrymple, Bart, of Hailes, in the 
county of Haddington, auditor of the 
Exchequer of Scotland, and of Lady 
Christian Hamilton, second daugh- 
ter of Thomas sixth Earl of Had- 
dington, related by these families to 
many noble and celebrated characters 
of both kingdoms. 

The family of Dalrymple, is one 
of the most ancient and honourable in 
North Britain, and has produced not a 
few persons equally eminent in science, 

A3 



VI MEMOIR OF 

in the cabinet, and in the field. From 
none in particular have sprung so ma- 
ny great men, who have attained the 
highest honours in the department of 
the law, and who have supported the 
respectability and dignity of the bench 
by their character and talents. 

Two of the lineal ancestors of Lord 
Haixes, were adherents of the Refor- 
mation in its earliest period ; and their 
descendants were not more distin- 
guished as opponents, on the one hand, 
of democratical anarchy, and, on the 
other, of military usurpation, than as 
zealous friends of constitutional liber- 
ty, and of the Revolution. 

One of the most noted of his ances- 
tors, and the first of them enobled, was 
distinguished by great abilities as a 
general scholar and a lawyer. He was 
Lord President of the Court of Ses- 
sion in the reign of Charles II. in 
promoting whose restoration he had no 
inconsiderable share. Having retired 
to Holland during the latter part of 



THE AUTHOR. vii 

his reign, and that of his successor, 
after his return with the Prince of 
Orange he was raised to the Peerage, 
as Viscount Stair, and re-instated in 
his office at the Revolution. 

Few families can record a race of so 
many eminent contemporaries as his 
sons. His eldest was Lord Advocate, 
afterwards Lord Justice Clerk; and ha- 
ving been created Earl of Stair, was 
finally Secretary of State for Scotland. 
He is well known to those conversant 
with the history of Britain during that 
period, and also as the father of John 
Earl of Stair, the illustrious General 
and Ambassador in the reigns of Queen 
Anxe and of George I. & II. His se- 
cond son w T as a principal Clerk of Ses- 
sion, of reputation for his profound re- 
searches in the history and antiquities 
of his native country, of which his Hi- 
storical Collect ions are an able speci- 
men % His third son, who succeeded his 

* Grandfather to Sir John Balrymple, late 
an e- of the Barons of Exchequer, and Author of 
The Memoirs of Great Britain, 



Viii MEMOIR OF 

father as Lord President, was a Judge 
of great integrity and knowledge. His 
fourth son was first Phvsician to the 
King for Scotland. And the fifth and 
youngest, grandfather to LoitIHaiees, 
was Lord Advocate for Scotland for 
nineteen years. 

Lord Ha i les was born on the 2 8 tlx 
of October 1726. He was educated 
at Eton school, and highly esteemed 
there, not only for his proficiency in 
classical learning, but on account of 
his good dispositions and exemplary 
behaviour. He went from thence to 
the University of Utrecht, where he 
prosecuted the study of civil law, and 
on the 23d of February 1748, he put' 
on the gown, as an advocate in the 
Court of Session. 

Although possessing an ample for- 
tune, (his father having died in 1750), 
and attached to the pursuits of ele- 
gant literature, he was not seduced 
from close application to the toils of a 



THE AUTHOR. ix 

dry profession. As a barrister he was 
not distinguished ; for his utterance 
was rapid, and his articulation rather 
indistinct. But his deep knowledge 
of law, his unwearied application, the 
solidity of his judgment, and his pro- 
bity, raised him to high esteem. The 
papers which he drew, were charac- 
terized by their force in argument, 
and by elegant and correct simplicity 
of style. He continued eighteen years 
at the bar before he was raised to the 
bench. He did not confine himself 
during this period to mere technical 
business, but dignified his profession 
by uniting scientific researches with 
those of law, directing the lights of 
history and antiquity on its obscuri- 
ties. He amused himself at same time, 
and continued to do so after this, with 
the composition of some lighter essays, 
which he imparted to several respecta- 
ble periodical publications of England 
and of this country. But his mind 
was bent on more important studies, 



X MEMOIR OF 

while he relaxed it by this variety of 
occupation. Scarcely a year passed, 
from the date of his first appearance 
from the press, in which he did not 
print some original work of his own, 
or revive and bring into notice some 
learned or useful performance by 
others, neglected by his contempora- 
ries, and in danger of being lost to 
posterity. Every edition almost which 
he published, he improved. One can- 
not but wonder how he found time for 
so many, and such various literary un- 
dertakings. But his leisure was not 
spent in political intrigues, where he 
never appeared either as a leader or a 
tool, nor sacrificed in convivial dissi- 
pation or voluptuous indolence. In 
those departments of literature to 
which he attached himself, he had no 
rival ; these being unoccupied, or en- 
gaging the attention of inferior men. 
Mere literary fame, the passion for 
which has actuated so many of his 
contemporaries, although he was well 



THE AUTHOR. XI 

entitled to the highest, does not seem 
to have heen his end ; he would 
otherwise have cultivated a different 
field. Indeed, his taste and his senti- 
ments were not the same with most of 
those who have obtained the first rank 
in his native country, as fine writers. 

He was no admirer of Mr Hume as 
an historian; and to his writings on 
the principles of belief, of morals, arid 
of government, he was decidedly hos- 
tile. His works are free from those 
marks of vanity, self-sufficiency and 
arrogance, which are so common and 
so disgusting. Labour directed by 
sound judgment, acuteness, fidelity, 
accuracy, candour rarely equalled ; — 
these, united with just and delicate 
taste, unaffected simplicity, and great 
purity and correctness of style, charac- 
terize Lord Hailes as an Author, 
Truth was his object; and superior to 
envy, prejudice, and the ignorant con- 
tempt of those who undervalued many 
of his researches and publications, ha- 



Xli MEMOIR OF 

ving no views also to pecuniary interest 
as an author, he was not averse to find 
it. His works are not debased either bv 
flattery or detraction. He knew how 
to praise ; but h^ does not bestow this 
as a partizan, nor with the motive of 
obtaining it from others. He was not 
blind to the talents of those from 
whom he differed, and could admire 
even while lie censured and opposed. 
When he condemned, he was never 
warm. He expressed the conscienti- 
ous dictates of his own mind with 
firmness, but he generally gave the 
reasons of his judgment with the ut- 
most modesty and calmness. Rancour,, 
asperity, or personal vflections, no 
where appear in his works. 

Possessing considerable talents for 
ironical writing, and a strong propen- 
sity to observe and remark the ridicu- 
lous, noticeable even in his gravest 
w r orks ; he never exercised these to dis- 
tress an individual. His wit was ge- 
nuine, delicate, inoffensive and cour- 



THE AUTHOR. XUl 

teous, both in conversation and in his 
writings; and he employed satire and 
irony onlv to chastise and discredit folly 
and vice. 

As a judge, he was diligent, atten- 
tive, acute and conscientious. In cri- 
minal causes, in particular, he appeared 
to feel for the situation of the accu- 
sed, while he shewed his sense of the im- 
portance and responsibility of his own. 
His manner of administering oaths was 
most solemn, calculated to impress the 
conscience of the witness, and to strike 
the audience with awe. His w r hole de- 
meanour on such occasions, especially 
when it fell to him to pass sentence on 
the guilty, was well adapted to obtain 
the end of punishments, viz. the security 
and welfare of the community, and (in 
cases not capital) the reformation of the 
offender. The country reposed great 
confidence in his talents, application, 
and uprightness; and, though far from 
being esteemed according to his me- 
rits, the first men and the ablest au- 

13 



XIV MEMOIR OF 

thors of his time, and since, have con* 
curred, however differently minded re- 
specting religion and politics, and even 
some bigots on the opposite side, to 
praise his abilities, his investigations, 
and his character. 

It is much to be lamented that this 
great and excellent man, for such he 
really was, did not remember, that to 
prolong a life of studious application, 
considerable and habitual bodily exer- 
cise is required. But except regular 
motion in his carriage five days of the 
week, between his seat at Newhailes, 
five miles from Edinburgh, and the 
Court, with his journies during the 
circui t twice a year, and sometimes after 
it, short excursions to England, his ha- 
bits were almost quite sedentary. Pre- 
disposed by corpulence, and by the form 
of his body, which was short-necked, 
he was attack€d by symptoms of apo- 
plexy on his way from the Court of 
Session, when about to come out of his 
carriage near his own door, at New- 



THE AUTHOR. XV 

hailes. For a few days, lie obtained 
some relief; but was carried off by a 
second attack, on the 29th of Novem- 
ber 1792, in the sixty-sixth year of 
his age. 

Lord Hailes was twice married. 
His first wife, Anne, daughter of the 
Hon. George Brown, Lord Coal- 
ston, one of the judges of the Courts 
of Session and Justiciary, (in the latter 
of which offices he succeeded him on 
his resignation in May 1776), died in 
child-bed. By this Lady, he had one 
daughter who survives him, and pos- 
sesses the family estate*. 

By his second wife, who is alive, 
youngest daughter of the Hon. Sir 
James Ferguson, Bart. Lord Kilker- 
r an, also one of the indues of the Courts 

* Lord Woobhouselee, in his late interesting 
Memoirs of Lord Kames, has preserved a short, 
but (what he justly calls) a most delicate, tender 
and pathetic effusion, by Lord HAiLZS,on her death, 
in child-bed of twins, It is- written in Latin Iam-- 
biss» 



AVI MEMOIR OF 

of Session and Justiciary, be had ano- 
ther daughter who was married to her 
cousin, James Ferguson, Esq. grand- 
son of Lord Kiekerrax, and appa- 
rent heir of Sir Adam Ferguson, 
Bart, of Kilkerran. This lady is dead, 
and has left one son and two daughters. 

The title of Baronet descended to 
Lord Haiees' nephew, eldest son of 
John Dalrympee, Esq. his brother, 
formerly Lord Provost of Edinburgh. 

A list of his publications, with some 
short account of most of them, is sub- 
joined. With respect to the follow- 
ing work, none could have been more 
necessary, and no person could have- 
undertaken this, so eminently quali- 
fied for it by his studies and talents. 

The great object which Mr Gibbon 
keens in view through all his volumes, 
is to undermine, were it possible, the 
Christian religion. The purpose in . 
particular, of the 15th and 16th chap- 
ters of his first volume, is to invalidate 
the most striking and obvious proof, of 



THE AUTHOR. 



xvii 



an external kind, which the history of 
the world presents of its divine origin. 
The progress and success of Christian- 
ity, without any of those aids possess- 
ed hy the various superstitions and 
false religions which have been embra- 
ced upon earth, and in opposition to all 
the prejudices, interests, reasonings, 
and direct violence engaged against it, 
is unaccountable on the supposition of 
its being an imposture. To weaken 
the force of this fact, so plain and per- 
suasive to every one who inclines to ob- 
serve it, he has . thought it enough to 
assign five subordinate or secondary 
causes, which he alleges were sufficient 
to account for its prevalence, without 
any other influence. 

The fair consideration of most of 
these causes, and of their operation in 
the world, would have proved the truth 
of the gospel as satisfactorily as the as- 
cription of its success to the immediate 
agency of God. While avoiding how- 
ever all appearance of a partizan, ne- 

B 3 



xviii MEMOIR OF 

ver stating himself as a direct oppo- 
nent of Christianity, affecting indeed 
to deliver a narrative of facts without 
interposing his own sentiments, some- 
times even expressing himself as 
a professed believer of jts truth, and 
an admirer of its genius and spirit, he 
has traduced and misrepresented his 
subject, in place of conducting himself 
as a fair and candid historian. Not- 
withstanding his respectful mention of 
Christianity* his readers must have lit- 
tle discernment, if, through all this* 
they do not perceive the sly insinua- 
tiosj and sarcastic sneer, making it ma- 
nifest, as Lord Hailes says, '* that he 
{i ridicules in sense ickat he asserts in 
¥ ico Ms " - 

The editor of his Life and Letters, 
though, like other biographers, not, it 
should seem, aware of the depravity he 
exposes, has drawn aside the veil, and 
confirmed this, exhibiting the real un- 
principled motives by which he was 
actuated as a writer and a man. Chri-- 



THE AUTHOR. 



XIX 



stians indeed, while they deplore the 
infatuation of such persons, may well 
glory that the gospel cannot have them 
Jbr its friends \ 

Prevjpus to the publication of Mr 
Gibbon's History, the subject had not 
been generally studied, and his vo- 
lumes came forth with all the ad- 
vantages which their novelty, joined 
to the charms of composition un- 
usually elegant, could give them. He 
soon obtained his reward ; not only 
realizing a large sum as the price of 
tire work, but applauses pouring in 
upon him from all quarters whence he 
valued them, giving at once celebrity 
to his History, and fame to its author. 
It was speedily and highly extolled 
by Mr Hume and Dr Robertson", 
the writers whom he had placed be- 
fore him as his models. Dr Fergu- 
son also, Dr Smith, and even Dr 
Campbell, (seduced, it should seem, 
by similarity of sentiment on some 
topics of ecclesiastical- history), ex- 



XX MEMOIR OF 

pressed their high admiration of his 
work, to, himself or to his bookseller. 
The public taste was led by their un- 
qualified panegyrics. His style was 
not only applauded, with the small re- 
serve of its being quaint in some 
places, and bearing marks of labour, 
but the highest eulogiums were be- 
stowed on his fidelity, as if he had 
written like a witness upon oath, and 
had referred to no authority which he 
had not seen with his own eyes. How 
far he deserved such a character, let 
those judge who carefully peruse the 
following work. The strictures how- 
ever of those who ventured to call in 
question the merits of the book, were 
not only treated by himself with proud ^ 
disdain, but censured and stigmatized 
by his admirers, as fierce and illiberal 
abuse. The public were fascinated by 
the splendour and brilliancy of his lan- 
guage, while with the lightest readers 
(as Mr Hume said) it did not require 
too much thought to be popular. Even 



THE AUTHOR, Xxi 

men of pleasure were attracted by a 
writer who, in the grave walk of his- 
tory, gratified the taste of obscene and 
sensual minds, set them free, from the 
restraints of strict morality, and fur- 
nished them with inuendos and anec- 
dotes, serving to expose Christianity 
as a fable, and that not very cunning- 
ly devised. The first impression, to 
take his own account in his Memoirs, 
was exhausted in a few days. A se- 
cond and a third which succeeded, was 
scarcely equal to the demand. Two 
pirated editions in Ireland were imme- 
diately sold off ; the book was on eve- 
ry toilette and table, almost as soon 
as published ; and the historian was 
crowned by the taste and fashion of 
the day. 

Time has not diminished its sale. 
Edition has succeeded edition. In this 
very year, three or four of different 
size and price have been published in 
London, and two in Edinburgh at a 
reduced price, and jn a shape to meet 



Xxii MEMOIR OF 

the ability of the humblest purchasers, 
It is hoped that those who are influen- 
ced by the conviction, that the gospel 
is the revelation of God, will shew as 
much zeal in recommending the admi- 
rable antidote contained in this small 
volume, as those of a contrary mind 
manifest in dispersing the poison. 

It appears, that about the period at 
which Mr Gibbon's History first came 
out, Lord Hailes was particularly en- 
gaged in the study of ecclesiastical an- 
tiquity. In that year (1776), he trans- 
lated and printed, An Account of the 
Martyrs of Smyrna and Lyons, in the 
Second Century , with Explanatory Notes 
more than twice the size of the origi- 
nal. These notes are extremely in- 
teresting to all who value truth on 
this subject ; but there is no reference 
in any of them to the remarks of Mr 
Gibbon, nor yet in the notes which 
he added in Latin to an edition 
of Lactantius de Justitia, published 
in 1777. He published however in 



THE AUTHOR. Xxiii 

1778 a second volume, and in 1780 a 
third, to which he gave the title of 
Remains of Christian Antiquity. These 
were upon the same plan with the first, 
containing translations from Ruixart 
and Eusebius, from the works of Cy- 
prian, and Ambrose, and from other 
early w v iters, with very learned com- 
menfcaries and notes to all of them. 
In the second volume of the Remains 
of Christian Antiquity, he first of all 
alluded to Mr Gibbon, whom he stvles 
" an eloquent and admired historian." 

In that and the following volume, 
and in the notes to his versions from Mi- 
nucius Felix, Lactantius, andTER- 
tullian, and especially in his Disqui- 
sitions, his great object seems to have 
been to detect the misrepresentations 
with which he has demonstrated Mr 
Gibbon's work to abound. Those 
who peruse these very valuable per- 
formances, will discern with what jus- 
tice he charges him with the gross* 
est errors in matters of fact (we use 



XXiV MEMOIR OF 

the words of Lord Hailes); with 
carelessness, in trusting to authoritv, 
on subjects he ought to have examined 
with his own eyes; with adopting 
fanciful, superficial, and unvouched 
hypotheses; and with passing off long- 
narratives as truth, of which hardly a 
single phrase could stand the test of 
criticism. In fact, while he withholds 
no expression of praise due to the ele- 
gance and energy with which he 
writes, it will be found that he has es- 
tablished the charge he prefers against 
him, 'pis', of his speaking sometimes with 
more asperity and contempt of Chri- 
stians, than the heathen emperors do 
in their edicts ; and of his having pol- 
luted that great Fountain of truth, the 
history of mankind. He has thus 
really reduced his boasted and admired 
work to the level of a romance. All 
these charges however, made good by 
one qualified and accustomed to judge 
of evidence, and to sift the plausible 
from the certain, were but skirmishes 



THE AUTHOR. XXV 

compared with the formidable attack 
on his correctness and veracity, which 
this work contains. Lord Hailes diet 
not descend to notice all the irony, ban- 
ter and sneer, with which Mr Gibbon s 
work is replete, wherever almost he in- 
troduces the subject of Christianity ; 
but pushed forward at once to his most 
weighty matter, and to reasonings on 
which he places his firmest reliance. 
He compared his quotations, and his 
versions of them ; he examined his ar- 
guments, confuted his assertions, and 
overturned his most splendid theories ; 
mixing with all this, occasionally, ani- 
rnadversions on the loose and immoral 
tendency, in several instances, of his 
composition, the severity of which 
every one is able to appreciate, who 
is acquainted with the mild and dig- 
nified manner in which he always ad- 
ministered reproof. 

Previous to the publication of The 
Inquiry, various writers had addressed 
the public on the same subject. And 

C 



XXVI MEMOIR OF 

in the year 1779, Mr Gibbon, roused, 
as he says, not by Mr Davis' attack 
on his faith, but his fidelity, published 
an Anonymous Vindication of his offen- 
sive chapters against this attack, and 
against the Remarks also of Dr Chel- 
sum, Dr Randolph, and others ; but 
while noticing not only the courteous 
Apology of Bishop Watson, but al- 
most, every name which had then ap- 
peared, and even an anonymous pain- 
phlet in the same cause, he observes the 
most perfect silence respecting the vari- 
ous remarks of Lord Hailes, and ne- 
ver indeed took any notice of the ani- 
madversions relating to him, in any of 
his publications. He lived between se- 
ven and eight years after the following 
work was published, and, it appears, 
was acquainted with its contents; but 
while he judged it proper to reply to 
writers far inferior, in his own estima- 
tion, in ability and erudition, in their 
knowledge of the subject, and in their 
manner of discussing it, and although 



THE AUTHOR. XXVTl 

he professed, that regard to his own 
moral character alone brought him on 
the field against his other adversaries, 
he yet declined to support his learning; 
correctness, integrity, and good morals, 
all of which were impeached in the 
following Inquiry with great delicacy, 
but in the most grave and serious man- 
ner. In his Memoirs indeed, left for 
posthumouspublication, and sinceglven 
to the world by Lord Sheffield, he 
writes of the Inquiry in the following 
terms : " The profession and rank of 
" Sir David Dalrymple has given 
" a more decent colour to his style. 
" But he scrutinized each separate p£s:- 
" sage of the two chapters with the 
" dry minuteness of a special pleader; 
" and, as he was always solicitous to 
" make, he may sometimes have sue- 
" ceeded in finding a flaw The as- 
persion which these words contain, is 
equally groundless as injurious. Those 
who knew Lord Hailes only in his 

* Miscellaneous Works y Vol. I. p. 155, 



XXVlii MEMOIR OF 

writings, stand in no need of its refu- 
tation. There is no doubt, if Mr Gib- 
box could have defended himself by 
any plausible arguments, that he would 
have produced them. His powers were 
unimpaired to the last, and he was ar- 
rested by death while speculating on 
the probability of his living ten, or 
twelve, or perhaps twenty years lon- 
ger, and while projecting new literary 
undertakings ! but we do not learn that 
his vindication against the charges of 
LoixIHailes was any of them. To those 
who properly estimate the character 
he has here given of the Inquiry, it 
will seem an acknowledgment of its ac- 
curacy and importance. Some probably 
wish that the excellent author had 
treated his subject with more ardour; 
that he had interested his readers, by 
representing its consequence as well as 
its truth ; that he had dwelt on the 
danger and guilt of Mr Gibbox's hy- 
pocrisy and misrepresentations, and had 
warned the world against his pernici- 



THE AUTHOR. Xa:X 

ous and criminal arts. But Lord 
Hailes uniformly preserves the cool- 
ness and dignity of the judge in all 
his works; and those who infer from 
his dispassionate style, that the argu- 
ment is not of ineffable moment, will 
find themselves ere long most wofully, 
and eternally mistaken, 



Catalogue of the Works ofSvc DavidDalrymple^ 
Bart. Lord Hailes arranged in the Order 
of their Publication *. 

1. Sacred Poems, or a Collection of Translations 
and Paraphrases from the Holy Scriptures, by various 
authors. Edinburgh 1751, 12mo. Dedicated to Charle-s 
Lord Hope, with a Preface of ten pages. 

2. Proposals for carrying on a certain public Work in 
the City of Edinburgh. — This jeu esprit was published 
about 1753 or -4, and was a parody on a pamphlet by 
the late Sir Gilbert Elliot. It is dedicated to the Pa- 
tron and Pattern of all Castle-builders-. The wit is en- 
tirely local, though unfortunately not temporary ; but is 

* This Catalogue was drawn up by the Editor, in conse- 
quence of an inaccurate list of the same Works being inserted 
in an Edinburgh Magazine. It was published in that Maga- 
zine in 1793. and has since been re-printed in other publica~ 
tions. Its defects are now supplied. 

c-s 



XXX CATALOGUE OF 

perhaps as sterling and as delicate as the subject admit - 
ed. Lord Hailes, it ought to be remembered, was then 
a young man. 

3. Select Discourses, in number nine, by John Smith, 
late Fellow of Queen's College, Cambridge, 12mo. 
pp. 291. Edinburgh, 1756, with a preface of hve pages ; 
many quotations from the learned languages translated; 
and notes added, containing allusions to ancient mytho- 
logv, and to the erroneous philosophy which prevailed 
in the days of the Author ; various inaccuracies of stile 
have been corrected, and harsh expressions softened. 

4- World, No. 1-10. September -1. 1755. A meditation 
among books.— Ditto, No. 147. Thursday, October 23. 
1755. Both these papers are replete with wit and hu- 
mour, and the last one is introduced with a high charac- 
ter of it and of the Author, by 2\Ir Moore, the editor 
ana chief author of the World.— Ditto, Xo. 204. Thurs- 
c.av. Xov. 25. 1756. A piece of admirable wit, on Good 
TJbmgs, and the propriety of taxing them. 

5. A Discourse of the unnatural and vile Conspiracy 
attempted by John Earl of Gowry, ana his brother, 
; gainst his Ma : ,estv's person, at St Johnstcun, .upon the 
5th of August 1600. — Xo date of the republication, but 
the edition and notes by Lord Hailes, who circulated 
this account, .originally published by authority, for the 
purpose of obtaining additional information on this mys- 
terious incident of Scottish history. Tnese were com- 
municated by Lord Hailes to Br RoberUon, and are ac- 
knowledged by him to be the means, with Lord Hailes' 
conversation on the subject, which enabled him to dis- 
pel the darkness in which the subject is involved. 

6. A Sermon, which might have been preached in 
Last Lothian, upon the 25th day of October 1761. on 



LORD HAILES* WORKS. 



xx xi 



Actsxxvii. J, 2. " The barbarous people shewed us no 
little kindness." Edinburgh 1761, pp. 25. 12mo. — Oc- 
casioned by the country people pillaging the wreck of 
two vessels, -was. The Betsy, Cunningham, and the 
Leith Packet, Pitcairn, from London to Leith, cast away 
on the shore between Dunbar and North Berwick. All 
the passengers on board the former, in number seven- 
teen, perished ; five on board the latter, Oct. 16. 1761. 
A most affecting discourse, admirably calculated to con- 
vince and impress the offenders. A second edition has 
been lately published. 

7. Memorials and Letters relating to the History of 
Britain, in the reign of James I. published from the ori- 
ginals, Glasgow 1762. Addressed to Philip Yorke, Vis- 
count Royston, pp. 151. From a collection in the Ad- 
vocate's library, by Balfour of Denmyln. The preface 
of four pages, signed, Dav. Dalrymple. 

8. The Works of the ever memorable Mr John Hales, 
of Eaton, now first collected together in 3 vols. Glas- 
gow 1765 ; preface of three pages. Dedicated to Wil- 
liam (Warburton) Bishop of Gloucester.— The edition 
said to be undertaken with his approbation ; obsolete 
words altered, with corrections in spelling and punctua- 
tion. 

9. A Specimen of a book, entitled — Ane Compendi- 
ous Booke of Godly and Spiritual Sangs, collectit out 
of sundrie parts of the Scripture, with sundrie of other 
Baliates changed out of prophaine Sangs, for avoyding of 
Sin Sc Harlotrie, with augmentation of sundry Glide and 
Godly Baliates, not contained in the first edition. Edin- 
burgh, printed by Andre Hart. — 12mo. Edinburgh, 
1765, pp. 42. with a Glossary of 4 pages. 

ijg. Memorials and Letters relating to the History of 



xxxii 



CATALOGUE OF 



Britain, in the reign of Charles L published from the 
originals, Glasgow, 1766, pp. 189, Preface of 6 pages, 
signed Dav, Dalrymple, chiefly collected by Mr Wo- 
drow, Minister of Eastwood, author of the History of 
the Church of Scotland, a bock to which Mr Fox, in 
his late Posthumous Work, appeals as his chief vouch- 
er. Inscribed to Robert Dundas of Arniston, Lord 
President of the Court of Session, in memory of his 
friendship and patronage. 

11. An account of the preservation of Charles II, af- 
ter the battle of Worcester, drawn up by himself ; to 
which are added, his Letters to several persons. Glas- 
gow, 1766. pp. 190, from the MSS. of Mr Pepys, dic- 
tated to him by the king himself, and communicated by 
Dr Sandby, Master of Magdalene College—The Let- 
ters are collected from-various books,,some of them now 
first published, communicated by the guardians of the 
Duke of Hamilton, by the Earl of Dundonald, &c. The 
preface of 4 pages, signed Dav. Dalrymple, dedicated 
to Thomas Holies, Duke of Newcastle, Chancellor of 
the University of Cambridge. 

12. The Secret Correspondence between Sir Robert 
Cecil, and James VI. 12mo. 1766. — This is the corre- 
spondence alluded to by Dr Robertson, in his History 
of Scotland. It was printed from the originals in the 
Advocate's Library, and from copies in the possession 
of Lord Hardwicke, and of others, the originals be- 
longing to Mr Erskine of Mar. In the notes, Lord 
Hailes explains some obscure phrases, and illustrates 
some historical facts ; but he acknowledges that there 
are various particulars in the letters which he does not 
comprehend. 

13. A Catalogue of the Lords of Session, from the 
Institution of the College of Justice, in the year 1532 , 



LORD HAILES' WORKS. 



xxxiii 



with Historical Notes. Suutn cuique— rependet poste- 
ritas. Edinburgh, 1767. 4to. pp.26.— This catalogue 
was re-printed in 1794, and carried down with addi- 
tional notes, to that period, by another hand. 
• ' 14. The Private Correspondence of Dr Francis At- 
terbury, Bishop of Rochester, and his friends, in 1725, 
never before published. Printed in 1768, 4to. Adver- 
tisement, pp. 2. Letters, pp. 10. A fac simile of the 
first from Bishop Atterbury, to John Cameron of Loch- 
rel, to prove their authenticity. 1 

15. An Examination of some of the Arguments for 
the High Antiquity of Regiam Majestatem, and an Inqui- 
ry into the authenticity of the Leges Malcoimi, by Sir 
David Dalrymple, 4to, pp. 52. Edinburgh, 1769. 

16. Canons of the Church of Scotland, drawn up in 
the Provincial Councils held at Perth, A. D. 1242 and 
1269. Edinburgh 1769, 4to. pp.43.— These were first 
published in the Concilia &Iag?icz Britannia* being trans- 
scribed for that purpose from the chartulary of A jm- 
deen, by the very learned Mr Thomas Ruddiman. Lord 
Hailes considered these canons of great importance in 

" the History of Scotland, in so much as to term ihern 
" The Scottish Ecclesiastical Code yet he says, that 
he believed few writers on the law of Scotland ever per- 
used them ; and added in a note in the following article, 
" For the benefit of those who may be inclined to pu- 
blish any tracts concerning the Antiquities of Scotland, 
I must observe, that twenty-five copies of the Canons - 
were sold." Among several curious facts established 
by these canons, there" is one not generally known or 
credited, that baptism was at this period administered 
in Scotland by immersion. See p. 31. 

I7< Historical Memoirs concerning the Provincial 



xxxiv 



CATALOGUE OF 



Councils of the Scottish Clergy, from the earliest ac- 
counts to the sera of the Reformation, by Sir David 
Dalrymple Edinburgh, 1769, 4^ pp. 4*1-— Having no 
high opinion of the popularity of his writings, he pre- 
fixes to this work the following motto : " Si deiectamur 
quum scribimus quis est tarn invidus qui ab eo nos ab- 
ducat ? sin laboramus quis est qui aliense rnodurn sta» 
tuat industrise." This publication however will interest 
every one by whom ecclesiastical history is deemed im- 
portant. The means used to counteract the Reformation., 
are in particular an object of singular curiosity, and 
their similarity to trie plans which clergymen in all 
periods have employed, in like circumstances, will 
strike every one who has paid attention to this subject. 
These memoirs are illustrated by many ingenious and 
learned notes. 

IS. Ancient Scottish Poems, published from the MS. 
cf George Bannatyne, 3568. Edinburgh, 1770. 12m6, 
Preface, 6 pp. Poems, pp. 221. very curious notes, pp. 
92. Glossary, and lists of passages and words not un- 
derstood, pp. 14?. No. 15, 16, 17, reprinted in the third 
volume of the Annals, 2d edit. 

19. The additional Case of Elizabeth, claiming the 
title and dignity of Countess of Sutherland, now Mar- 
chioness of Stafford, by her guardians. Wherein the 
facts and arguments in support of her claim are more 
fully stated, and the errors in the additional cases for the 
other claimants are detected, 4to. — This singularly learn- 
ed and able case was subscribedby AlexanderWedderburn, 
afterwards Lord Chancellor and Earl of Roslyn, and Sir 
Adam Fergusson,Bart. but is the well known work of Lord 
Hailes. It ought not to be regarded merely as a law paper 
of great ability, but as a treatise (and is indeed universal- 
ly so esteemed) of profound research into the history 



LORD HAILES* WORKS. 



XXXV 



-and antiquity of many important and general points of 
succession and family history. Introduction, pp. 21. 
The first four chapters, pp. 70. the fifth and sixth chap- 
ters, pp. 177. 

20. Remarks on the History of Scotland, by Sir Da- 
vid Dalrympie. — " Utinam tarn facile vera invenire pos- 
sem quam falsa Convincere.' , Cicero.— -Edinburgh, 1773. 
Inscribed to George Lord Lyttleton, in nine chapters, 
pp. 284. 12mo. — These consist of nineteen chapters, and 
relate to many circumstances both of a general and par- 
ticular nature, all of them discovering the singular eru- 
dition and acuteness of the author. Lord Hailes ex- 
presses, in one chapter, an anxious wish for an impartial 
account of the Westminster assembly of Divines, in 
1644-5. He refers to a journal of their proceedings by 
Mr George Gillespie, one of the Scotch commissioners. 
It may be agreeable to some persons to know, that a 
very full and accurate account of their proceedings is 
among the MSS. in Dr Williams' library, Redcross 
Street, London. 

21. Huberti Langueti Galli Epistolae ad Philippum 
« Sydneium Equitem Anglum Accurante D. Dalrympie, 

de Hailes, Equite. Edinburgh, 1776, 8vo. Inscribed to 
Lord Chief Baron S my the. — Virorum Eruditorum tes- 
famonia de Langueto, pp. 7. Epistolae, 289. Index No- 
minum, pp. 4L — The author of these Letters was a 
great and a learned man, born in 1518, and died at Ant- 
werp in 1581. He embraced the Reformation in its 
earliest stage, and was the intimate friend of Melanc- 
thon, De Mornay, and other reformers. He was distin- 
guished as a lawyer, and was -ambassador from the Elec- 
tor of Saxony to France, and afterwards his prime mini- 
ster. He was the author of several works, besides three 
volumes of Latin Letters, of which these form one, 



xxxvi 



CATALOGUE OF 



printed originally in 1633, by Elzevir. Bayle ascribes 
to him that celebrated book, printed, as was pretended, 
at Edinburgh, in 1579, — f Vindicise contra Tyrannos 
Auc. S. Juni'o Bruto.' He was held in high esteem by 
Thuanus, the historian ; and Du Plessis de Mornay said 
of him, " Vixit quemadmodum optimi mcri cupiunt." 
Sir Sidney Stafford Smythe, Bart, seems to have been 
chosen as the patron of the work, not only as a desceu- 
dent of the truly eminent person to whom they were 
originally addressed, but as resembling the author, be- 
ing an eminent lawyer and a Christian; a Character^ 
which he too supported with great consistency and firm- 
ness in an elevated rank. He died in 1778. 

22. Annals of Scotland, from the accession of Mal- 
colm III. surnamed Canmore, to the accession of Ro- 
bert I. By Sir David Dalrympre. Edinburgh, 1776, 1 
pp.311. Appendix, pp. 51. 4to. 

Tables of the Succession of the Kings of Scotland, 
from Malcolm III. ; to Robert I. their mariiages, chil- 
dren, and time of their death ; and also of the Kings of 
England and France, and of the Popes who were their 
contemporaries. 

Chronological Abridgment of the Volume, pp. 30. 
The Appendix contains 8 Dissertations. 

I. Of the Law 7 of Evenus and Mercheta Mulierum, 
pp. 17. 

II. A Commentary on the 2£d statute of William the 
Lion, pp. S. 

III. Of the 18th Statute of Alexander III. pp.. 5. 

IV. Bull of Pope Innocent IV. pp.6. 

V. Of Walter Stewart, Earl of MenLeth, 1276, 
pp.7. 

VI. Of M'Duff, slain at Falkirk, in 129S, pp. 3.- 



LORD HAILES 5 WORKS. XXXvii 

VII. Of the death of John Comyn, 10th February 
1 305, pp. 4. 

■VIII. Of the origin of the House of Stuart, pp.6. 

Annals of Scotland, from the Accession of Robert L 
sirnamed Bruce, to the Accession of the House of 
Stuart; by Sir David Dalrymple, Edinburgh 1779, 
4to. pp. 277. — Appendix, pp. 54. containing, 

I. Of the manner of the death of Marjory, daughter 
of Robert L pp. 7. 

II. Journal of the campaign of Edward III. 1327. 
pp. 9. 

III. Of the genealogy of the Family of Seton in the 
14th century. 

IV. List of the Scottish Commanders, at the battle 
Hallidon, 19th July, 1383, pp. 11. 

V. Whether Edward III. put to death the son of Sir 
Alexander Seton, pp. 8. 

VI. List of the Scottish Commanders killed or made 
prisoners at the battle of Durham, pp. 8. 

VII. Table of Kings, p. 1. 

VIII. Corrections and additions to Volume I. p. 16. 

IX. Corrections and additions to Volume II. pp. 8. 
Chronological Abridgment of the Volume, pp. 39. 
These were re-printed, in 3 vols. 8vo in 1797, with 

the addition of several valuable tracts and documents 
from Lord Hailes' other works, together with a curious 
tract, published by the late John Davidson, Esq. W. S. 
aud some extracts from Anderson's Essay on the Inde- 
pendence of Scotland, all relating to the history and 
antiquities of that country. 

This, of all the works of Lord Hailes, being most adapt- 
ed to the public taste, has obtained the highest and 
most justly deserved applause. M A historian indeed 

D 



XXXV1U 



CATALOGUE OF 



was wanting, (as- the author of the preface to the f&o 
edition well observes^), whose principal endowments 
were a sagacious spirit of criticism to distinguish truth 
from falsehood, and a freedom from prejudice to let that 
truth be known. He wages war in every page with 
credulity and imposture, and his industry in exploring 
the sources of authentic history is equally commendable 
with the zeal which he has shewn in clearing these 
sources from every taint of fiction." Lord Hailes' ideas 
of the qualifications of a historian were indeed very 
high, and his opinion of the faults and imperfections of 
the most popular and esteemed historians, would natu- 
rally lead him to avoid these. Pity it is, that the same 
care to shun the retinernents of conjecture, the same scru- 
pulous fidelity in resorting to and examining authorities, 
the same spirit of judicious and sound investigation and 
reflexion, had not been employed to illustrate subjects 
more important than those which occur during three 
centuries of gross ignorance and- barbarism ! With the 
regret of every one who has read his work, and who 
' wishes to be well acquainted with the history qf their 
native country, Lord Hailes stopped at a period inte- 
resting to all Scotsmen, the accession of the House of 
Stuart. But as it is, no doubts can be entertained that 
it will be consulted, appealed to, and admired, as long 
as the subject is studied. Happy were it for mankind, 
if all writers of history formed themselves on the plan 
of Iris Annals 1 % 

23. Account of the Martyrs of Smyrna and Lyons, 
in the second century, 12mo. with explanatory rotes, 
.Edinburgh 1776. Dedicated to Bishop Hurd, pp. 68. 
Notes and Illustrations, pp. 142. - -This is a new and 
correct version of two most ancient Epistles -> the one 



LORD HAILES' WORKS. XXXIX 

from -the Church at Smyrna to the Church at Philadel- 
phia ; the other from the Christians at Vienne and Ly- 
ons, to those in Asia and Phrygia. Their antiquity and 
authenticity are undoubted. Great part of both is ex- 
tracted from Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History. The 
former was first completely edited by Archbishop Usher. 
The author of the notes says of them, with his usual 
and singular modesty, " That they will afford little new 
or interesting to men of erudition, though they may 
prove of some benefit to the unlearned leader." i But 
the erudition he possessed in these branches is so rare, 
that this notice is unnecessary. They display much 
useful learning and ingenious criticism. 

24?. Remains of Christian Antiquity, with explana- 
tory notes, Volume II. Edinburgh, 1778. I2mo. dedi- 
cated to Dr Newton, Bishop of Bristol, Preface, pp. 7. 
This volume contains, The Trial of Justin Martyr and 
his Companions, pp. 8. Epistle of Dionysius, Bishop 
of Alexandria, to Fabius Bishop of Antioch, pp. 16. 
The Trial and Execution of Cyprian, Bishop of Car- 
thage, pp. 8. The Trial and Execution of Fructuosu.?, 
Bishop of Tarracona in Spain, and of his two deacons, 
Augurius and Eulogius, pp. S. The Maiden of Anti- 
och, pp.2. — These are all newly translated by Lord 
Hailes, from Ruinart, Eusebius, Ambrose, &c. The 
notes and illustrations of this volume extend from p. 47. 
to 165, and discover a most intimate acquaintance with 
antiquity, great critical acumen, both in elucidating the 
sense and detecting interpolations. To this volume is 
added an Appendix of pp. 22, correcting and ;vindica- 
ting certain parts of Volume I. 

25. Remains of Christian Antiquity, Volume III. 
Edmburgh,,1780, Dedicated to Thomas Balguy, D.D. 



xl 



CATALOGUE OF 



Preface,, pp.2. It contains the History of the Martyrs 
of Palestine in the third century, translated from Eu- 
sebius, pp.94, notes and illustrations, pp 135. In this 
and the preceding volume, Mr Gibbon comes frequent- 
ly under review. 

26. Sermons by that eminent divine, Jacobus a Vo- 
ragine, Archbishop of Genoa. Translated from the 
originals, 1779, Edinburgh, pp. 47. 12mo. 

To this publication was prefixed the following adver- 
tisement : " Jacobus a Voragine, an humble predicant 
friar, for his singular pulpit gifts, was made Archbishop 
of Genoa. He it was who compiled the Aurea Lege?ida r 
of which there are so many abridgments, well known to 
all conversant in the history of the saints. If this spe- 
cimen proves acceptable to the public, three huu4'rec}= 
sermons by the same author, all equally valuable and_. 
edifying, may hereafter see the light in .an English 
dress. For preventing mistakes and officious intermed- 
dling, the Publisher thinks it necessary to premise — 
that he does not profess to make any converts to the 
faith of the church of Rome. The author, if candidly 

heard, will speak for himself." It is curious enough 

that this publication should have appeared during tfog 
ferment in Scotland, respecting the relaxation of the pe- 
nal laws against popery. It was printed, we believe, at 
the instance of the late Dr Erskine^ with whom, and 
with the late Dr Macqueen, author of the Letters on 
Hume's History, as well as other clergymen of charac- 
ter and learning, Lord Hailes kept up much friendly in- 
tercourse. Those who have looked into this publication, 
will readily discern the ironical purpose of the editors 
More absurd nonsense certainly never issued from the 
press ! The author died, A.D. 1298, and was the first 



LORD HAILES' WORKS. 



Xli 



translator of the Bible into the Italian language. " 2k*- 
gejula Aurea (says Lud. Vives), ab homine oris ferre, 
cordis plumbei scripta." 

27. Octavius, a Dialogue by Marcus Minucius Felix. 
Edinburgh 1781. pp.16. Preface. The speakers are 
Coecilius a heathen, Octavius a Christian, whose argu- 
ments prevail with his friend to renounce Paganism, 
and become a Christian proselyte. Notes and illustra- 
tions, pp. 120. 

28. Of tl\e manner in which the persecutors died. A 
treatise by L. C. F. Lactantius. Edinburgh 17S2. In- 
scribed to Dr Porteous, Bishr p of Chester, present Bi- 
shop of London. Preface, pp. 37. in which it is proved 
that Lactantius is the author. Text, pp. 125. Notes 
an illustrations, pp.109. 

29. L.C.F. LactantiiDivinarumlnstitutionum Liber 
Quintus seu de Justitia, 1777. Cum notis Latine, pp. 42. 

'30. Disquisitions concerning the Antiquities of the 
Christian Church. Glasgow, 1783. Inscribed to Dr 
Halifax, bishop of Gloucester, pp. 194. — This small 
original and most excellent work, consists of six chap- 
ters. 

Chap. I. A Commentary on the conduct and charac- 
ter of Gallio, Acts xviii. 5. 12. 17. 

Chap. II. Of the time at which the Christian religion 
became publicly known at Rome. 

Chap. III. Cause of the persecution of the Christians 
under Nero. In i % ->.-, the hypothesis of Mr Gibbon, 
Vol.1. 4to. p. 641, is examined. 

Chap. IV. Of the eminent heathen Writers, who are 
said by Mr Gibbon to have disregarded or contemned 
Christianity, vix. Seneca, Pliny, sen. Tacitus, Pliny, jun. 
Galen, Epictetus, Plutarch, Marcus Antoninus. To the 



xlii 



CATALOGUE OF 



admirers of heathen philosophers, and to those espe- 
cially who state between them and the Christian doc- 
trine any consanguinity, this chapter is earnestly re- 
commended, 

Chap. V. Illustration of a conjecture by Mr Gibbon, 
respecting the silence of Dio Cassius concerning the 
Christians. In this chapter, with extreme impartiality, 
he amplifies and supports an idea of Mr Gibbon on this 
head. 

Chap. VI. Of the circumstances respecting Christian- 
ity that are to be found in the Augustan History. 

31. An Inquiry into the Secondary Causes which Mr 
Gibbon has assigned fo : the rapid growth of Christian- 
ity, by Sir David Dalrymple, Edinburgh, 1786. grate- 
fully and affectionately inscribed to Richard (Hurd) Bi- 
shop of Worcester, 4-to. pp. 213. In five chapters. 
This work was translated into Dutch, by W. Van Yver- 
worst, and published at Utrecht, 1793, in 8vo. 

32. Sketch of the Life of John Barclay, 4to. 1786. 

33. Sketch of the Life of John Hamilton, a secular 
Priest, 4to. one of the most savage and bigotted adhe- 
rents of Popery, who lived about A. D. 1600. 

34. Sketch of the Life of Sir James Ramsay, a gene- 
ral Officer in the Armies of Gustavus Adolphus, king 
of Sweden, with a head. 

35. Life of George Leslie, an eminent Capuchin Friar 
in the early part of the 17th century, 4to, pp, 24. 

Sketch of the Life of Mark Al^. Boyd, 4to. 

These lives were written and published as a speci- 
men of the manner in which a Biographia Scotica 
might be executed ; and it is likely that Lord Hailes 
selected purposely the least interesting. 

36. The Opinions of Sarah Dss. Dowager of Mar!- 



LORD HAILES' WORKS. 



xliil 



borough, published from her original MSS. 1788. 12mo, 
pp. 120. with a few foot notes by Lord Hailes, in which 
he corrects the splenetic partiality of her Grace. 

37. The Address of O. Sept. Tertullian to Scapula 
Tertullus, Proconsul of Africa, translated by Sir David 
Dalrymple, 12mo. Edin. 1790. inscribed to Dr John 
Butler, Bishop of Hereford, preface, pp.4, translation, 
pp. 18. original, pp. 13. Notes and illustrations, pp. 
135. 

This address contains many particulars relating to the 
Church after the third century. The translator has reject- 
ed all words and phrases of French origin, and has writ- 
ten entirely in the Anglo Saxon dialect. In the course 
of the notes, many obscurities of the original, not ad- 
verted to by other commentators, are explained. Some 
strange inaccuracies of Mr Gibbon are also detected, 
not included in the misrepresentations in his two fa- 
mous chapters. See particularly, pp.108, — ]30. 



Lord Hailes, it is reported, left scarcely any thing in 
MS. fit for publication. He printed 38 pages Svoof a Glos- 
sary of the Scottish language, the opposite pages blank, 
for communications and additions ; but this was never 
published, and with all similar works, is now superseded 
by the curious and complete Etymological Dictionary, 
by Dr Jamieson, in 2 vols. 4to. A few interesting frag- 
ments, it is said, might perhaps be gathered from Lord 
Hailes' notes on the Scottish statutes, and on the histo- 
ry of Scotland from the accession of James VI, to the 
English throne to the Restoration. 



xliv 



CATALOGUE, &C. 



He had made some progress in a work for verifying 
the Canon, in an interleaved copy of the New Testa- 
ment ; but those who have seen what is done, do not 
think that it is sufficiently considerable for publication, 
and are even uncertain if he intended it for any other 
besides his own use. 

His correspondence must be extremely' interesting, 
and such parts of it as could with propriety be publish- 
ed, would be a most acceptable present to the world. 



ERRATUM. 

Memoir, p. xxi, 1, 6. for muendos read innuendoes. 



CHAPTER I. 



]VXr Gibbon justly observes, 11 that a 
« candid but rational inquiry into the progress 
rt and establishment of Christianity, may be con- 
" sidered as a very essential part of the history 
« of the Roman empire." 

" While/' says he, « that great body was 
u invaded by open violence, or undermined by 
" slow decay, a pure and humble religion gently 
« insinuated itself into the minds of men, grew 
« up in silence and obscurity, derived new vigour 
** from opposition, and finally erected the tri- 
" umphant banner of the Cross on the ruins of 

« the Capitol # ." " Our curiosity is natural- 

" ly prompted to inquire, by what means the 
" Christian faith obtained so remarkable a vic- 
" tory over the established religions of the 
" earth. To this inquiry, an obvious^ but satis- 
" factory answer may be returned \ that it was 

* Mr Gibbon, in his exordium, speaks also of the 
propagation of the gospel after Christianity became 
the established religion of the Roman empire ; but 
on this, as foreign to his subject, he does not enlarge, 
B 



14 CHAPTER I. 

" owing to the convincing evidence of the doctrine 
" itself and to the ruling providence of its great 
" Author. But as truth and reason seldom find 
" so favourable a reception in the world, and as 
u the e wisdom of Providence frequently conde- 
i: scends to use the passions of the human heart 
(c and the general circumstances of mankind, as 
" instruments to execute its purpose, we may 
u still be permitted, though with becoming re- 
« verence> to ask, not indeed what were the 
"firsts but what were the secondary causes of 
" the rapid growth of the Christian church." 
1. 535. 536. 

That which is placed in the foremost rank of 
" the secondary causes of the rapid growth of 
iC the Christian church," seems so singular, that, 
were it not exhibited in the very words of Mr 
Gibbon, my readers might suspect me of ha- 
ving either misunderstood or falsified the origi- 
nal. 

He says, that one of the causes of the rapid 
growth of the Christian church was, " the hi- 
" flexible, and, if we may use the expression, 
" the intolerant zeal of the Christians, derived, 
« it is true, from the Jewish religion, but puri- 
<c fled from the narrow and unsocial spirit, 
« which, instead of inviting, had deterred the 
« Gentiles from embracing the law of Moses 
i. 536. 



CHAPTER I. 15 

Mr Gibbon hesitates to employ an expression, 
which, when rightly understood, is altogether 
apposite. For u the great principle of the 
" Christian church is intolerance^ and the zeal of 
" the primitive Christians was intolerant" 

Christian zeal has no concern with the per- 
sons or fortunes of those who are inimical to 
Christianity ; and, knowing of what spirit it is, 
will not call for fire from heaven on its adver- 
saries. 

But Christians, believing in one God, could 
not enter into religious society with men who 
believed, or were willing to have it thought 
that they believed, in a multiplicity of gods # . 
To speak in scriptural language, they held, 
that light hath no fellowship with darkness ; and 
that the temple of God can have no agreement with 
idols ; 2 Cor. vi. 16. 

Now, was not this intolerant zeal, however 
purified from a narrow and unsocial spirit, of all 
causes the most unlikely to accelerate the pro- 
gress of Christianity ? 

Yet the evidence produced by Mr Gibbon 
ought to be heard. 

Beginning with Moses, he says, " The sullen 
« obstinacy with which the Jews maintained 
« their peculiar rites and unsocial manners, 

* More will be said on this topic when Jewish 
intolerance comes to be treated of. 



16 CHAPTER I. 

" seemed to mark thern out as a distinct species 
u of men 5 who boldly confessed* or who faint- 
u ly disguised, their implacable hatred to the 
u rest of human-kind |" L 537. 

In support of this charge, he quotes a trite 
passage of Juvenal # : and he adds in a note* 
« The letter of this law is not to be found in 
u the present volume of Moses. But the wise 
" and the humane Maimonides openly teaches, 
u that if an idolater fall into the water, a Jew 
(( ought not to save him from instant death. 
" See Basncige^ Histoire des Juifs, L vi. c. 28.'* 
i. 5S7. 

One might be led to infer from this note, 
that, in the volume of Moses which Juvenal 
used, there was an ordinance to the following 
effect : " Thou shalt not shew the way unto 
« the Heathen, neither shalt thou disclose the 
" fountains of water unto the uncircumcised 
and that, in the present volume of Moses, how- 
ever much it may differ from Juvenal's copy, 
the spirit, although not the letter of such an or- 
dinance, is still discernible f . 

* " Tradidit arcano quodcunque volumine Moses : 
" Non monstrare vias, eadem nisi sacra colenti ; 
" Qusesitum ad fontem solos deducere verpos." 

f Johannes Britannicus, an Italian commentator 
on Juvenal, roundly affirms, that Moses did enact a 
law of the import mentioned by the satyrist: " Mo-- 



CHAPTER I. 



17 



But to such inferences we may oppose a few 
passages selected out of the Pentateuch. 
" Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor op- 
" press him : for ye were strangers in the land 
"of Egypt*," Exod. xxii. 21. — « Also thou 
" shalt not oppress a stranger : for ye know 
« the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were stran- 
" gers in the land of Egypt Exod. xxiii. 9. 
— w And if a stranger sojourn with thee in 
" your land, ye shall not vex him. But the 

ses," says he, " willed that tne Israelites should be 
u so totally averse from all other religions, as not to 
" have any intercourse whatever, unless with men 
" of their own faith \ that they should not direct a 
" Heathen on his Way, or shew him where water 
" was to be had when he asked it. This is contraiy 
" to every sentiment of humanity. But Moses 
M thought that such a conduct was not improper to- 
" wards those who professed a different religion 
M from his own, which, however, was always held, 
" even by the Heathens themselves, to be inhuman 
" and barbarous." [Voluit Moses Judseos adeo ab 
omni alia religione esse aversos, ut ne commercium 
quidem uilum haberent, nisi cum eo qui eadem sa- 
cra colleret j nec viam erranti, nec aquam quserenti 
monstrarent : quod centra omnem est humanitatem. 
Putavit tamen Moses non indignum videri adversus 
eos qui sacra sua non colerent : quod quidem apud 
omnes, vel Ethnicos, inhumanum et barbarum habi- 
turn semper fuit.] See Juven. Sat. xiv. L 103. edit. 
Henninii, p. 650. It may be some apology for 
" Johannes Britannicus," that, while he misrepre- 
sents the law, he denies the divine legation of the 
lawgiver. 

B 3 



18 CHAPTER i. 

« stranger that dwelleth with you, shall be rat- 
« to you as one born amongst you, and thou 
" shalt love him as thyself; for ye were stran- 
" gers in the land of Egypt : I am the Lord your 
" God f Levit. xix. 33. 34. — « For the Lord 
« your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, 
" a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which 
w regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward. 
" He doth execute the judgement of the father- 
ed less and widow, and loveth the stranger *, in 
" giving him food and raiment. Love ye 
« therefore the stranger : for ye were strangers 
« in the land of Egypt;" Deut. x. 17. — 19. 

"We are taught from our youth to admire the 
energy of the words of Dido in Virgil : 
I learn to pity i&tfes so like my &wn f. Dryden. 

The expression, " love the stranger, for ye 
" weie strangers in the land of Egypt," is still 
more emphatical , it is a precept formed on an 
appeal to the feelings of a whole nation. 

And although " the stranger that dwelleth 
with you" may, perhaps, signify, " one who 
" had embraced the Jewish faith j M yet all the 
other passages in which " strangers" are men- 
tioned, must be understood of " persons with- 
" out the pale of the church." 

* ZEY2 OIAOHENOS, is a more endearing ap- 
pellation, than ZEY2 HENIOS. 

f " Non ignara mali, miseris succurrere disco.'" 



CHAPTER I, 19 

If such provisions were made, in the law of 
Moses, for the security and comfort of Hea- 
thens, we may certainly conclude, that nothing, 
either in the letter or spirit of that law, forbade 
the Jews to perforin the general offices of hu- 
manity to strangers, " whom God loveth." 

He who wishes to avoid this conclusion, must 
either recur to the exploded hypothesis, that 
the books of Moses have come down to us in a 
mutilated state ; or, adopting an hypothesis still 
more extravagant, he must assert, that the Jews, 
the guardians of those books, have foisted pre- 
cepts of humanity into them. 

It is hard to discover the meaning or tenden- 
cy of the sequel of Mr Gibbon's note : " But 
" the wise and the humane Maimonides openly 
" teaches, that if an idolater fall into the water, 
" a Jew ought not to save him from instant 
* death." 

Are the epithets wise and humane used ironi- 
cally, or do they import, that Jewish prejudices 
overcame the wisdom and humanity of Mai- 
monides ? 

The word " But" connects the two parts of 
the sentence : and therefore it might be con- 
jectured, that the author meant to say, that al- 
though no ordinance, such as Juvenal mentions, 
can be found in the present volume of Moses ; 
yet that a wise and humane commentator on 



20 CHAPTER 12 

the Mosaical law supposes such an ordinance to 
have existed heretofore in that law*. 

The casuistry of Maimonides was not derived 
from the Mosaical law, but from the tradition- 
ary maxims of the Jewish teachers •, and all his 
wisdom and all his humanity could not restrain 
him from drinking deep of that stream of cor- 
ruption. 

We need not wonder that such was the case 
in the eleventh century, at which time Mai- 
monides wrote ; for our Lord himself lamented 
that, even in his days, the teachers of Israel 
« made the commandment of God of none 
« effect by their traditions f Matth. xv. 6. 

To this wayward casuistry there are other 
allusions in the writings of the Evangelists. 
Thus, as it should seem, from the precept, 
" Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," 
Levit. xix. 18. the Jewish teachers inferred, 
that an opposite precept, " Thou shalt hate 
« thine enemy f was also the commandment 
of God. Matth. v. 43, 

* The style of Mr Gibbon is generally supposed 
to be clear \ and yet I meet with many things in 
his work which seem ambiguous. If, at any time, 
I should have the ill fortune to misunderstand him, 
he will pardon my mistake. 

\ It is probable that the interpreters, who, at this 
passage, make a marginal reference to Exod. xxxiv. 
12. Levit. xix. 18. and Deut. vii. 2. mean only to 



CHAPTER I, 21 

The Heathens took no pains to make them- 
selves acquainted with the true import of the 
law of Moses ; and the Jewish casuists, by 
their base glosses, disfigured it. But that law 
ought not to be judged on the evidence of ig- 
norant cavils, and perverse interpretations. 

In this section, intitled, " Zeal of the Jews," 
there are other particulars which merit expla- 
nation. 

Thus, it is said, that " the Jews multiplied 
" to a surprising degree in the east, and after- 
" wards in the west." 

Some reason ought to have been assigned for 
this surprising increase \ and the more so, be- 
cause it is said, presently after, that " it seems 
« probable that the number of proselytes was 
" never much superior to that of apostates " — » 
that " the descendants of Abraham were ap- 
« prehensive of diminishing the value of their 
" inheritance, by sharing it too easily with the 
« strangers of the earth — that " whenever 
(t the God of Israel acquired any new votaries, 
" he was much more indebted to the inconstant 
" humour of Polytheism, than to the active 
« zeal of his own missionaries " — and that 
" the painful^ and even dangerous rite of cir- 
« cumcision> was alone capable of repelling a 

point out the texts in the Pentateuch that were per- 
verted by the Jewish casuists, 



22 CHAPTER I. 

" willing proselyte from the synagogue." i. 
539.— 541. 

There is hardly a phrase in all this historical 
and critical deduction that can pass unobserved. 

The God of Israel, as Mr Gibbon must know, 
is also the God of heaven and of earth ; and 
therefore He could not be Indebted for votaries, 
either to the humour of Polytheism, or to the 
zeal of Jewish missionaries. 

Besides, God never sent missionaries with 
the purpose of converting Heathens to the be- 
lief of the Jewish religion. 

Mr Gibbon observes, that the Jews increas- 
ed surprisingly 9 and at the same time he sup- 
poses, that this surprising increase was not ow- 
ing to any accession of proselytes. 

Heathen writers seldom, if ever, speak ho- 
nourably of Judaism; and yet they seem agreed, 
that the number of proselytes to that religion 
was great. 

In the fragments of Seneca, we read, " So 
" universally do the customs of that most fia- 
" gitious people prevail, that now they are re- 
" ceived all over the world. The conquered 
« have given laws to the conquerors # ." 

* " Usque eo sceleratisslmce gentis consuetudo 
" convaluit, ut per omnes jam terras recepta sit. 
" Victi victor ibns leges dcdtrunt " Seneca ap. Au- 
gustin. De civitate Dei, vi. 11. 



CHAPTER I. 23 

And Tacitus says, " The worst of men every 
" where y despising the religious rites of their own 
" countn/ y were wont to pile up their contri- 
« butions and alms at Jerusalem # ." And again, 
« The Jews instituted the rite_of circumcision, 
« in order to distinguish themselves from the 
" rest of mankind. They who have revolted 
« to the customs of the Jews do the same \ and 
" the first thing that they are taught, is, to 
" despise the gods, and to divest themselves of 
" patriotism f," 

Seneca and Tacitus, however improperly 
they may have judged of the character of the 
proselytes to Judaism, could not be mistaken 
in this fact, that there were such proselytes, 
and those so numerous, as to excite the atten- 
tion, and perhaps the fears, of the Heathen 
world. 

The decencies of modern language will not 
allow any detail with regard to " the painful, 

* " Nam pfssvr.ys quisque< spr^tis religionlbus 
" pair lis, tributa et stipes illuc congerebant." Hist, 
v. 5. 

f " Circumcldere genitalia insiituere, ut diver- 
*' sitate, noscantur. Transgrcssi in mqrem eorum 
" idem usurp ant } nec quidquam prius imbuuntur, 
" quam contemnere deos, exuere patriarch" Hist, 
v. 5. It is amusing to remark the zeal which the 
politician Tacitus, himself a fatalist or a Sceptic, 
expresses for Polytheism and idolatry. 



24? CHAPTER I. 

" and even dangerous rite of circumcision/' 
We may, however, observe, that it could not 
have deterred that sex to whose devotion Mr 
Gibbon ascribes much of the success of Chris- 
tianity, from avowing the Jewish religion ; 
and that it " did not repel willing proselytes 
« from the door of the mosque." 

Mr Gibbon observes, that " the descendants 
** of Abraham — were apprehensive of dimi- 
" nishing the value of their inheritance, by sha- 
« ring it too easily with the strangers of the 
« earth." 

But the Jews could not imagine that their 
temporal inheritance was in danger of having 
its value diminished by the coming of pro- 
selytes amongst them ; and as for a spiritual 
inheritance, although many sects may be apt 
enough to exclude adversaries from a portion 
in it, yet they are generally willing to share it 
with proselytes. 

Granting « the humour of Polytheism to 
« have been inconstant %" it remains to be ex- 
plained, how that inconstancy should have led 
Polytheists to embrace the doctrine of Theism. 

* The Heathens were more inclined to receive 
new gods, than to dismiss old ones. For example, 
shapeless masses of stone were the most ancient idols. 
Terminus, a god of that sort, would not make way 
for the Capitoline Jupiter , and his claim of posses- 
sion appears to have been allowed. 



CHAPTER I, 25 

Again, it is said in the same section, that 
neither violence, nor art, nor example, " could 
" ever persuade the Jews to associate with the 
« institutions of Moses the elegant mythology 
« of the Greeks * and it is added, « The 
" current of zeal and devotion, as it was con- 
« tracted into a narrow channel, ran with the 
*< strength, and sometimes with the fury, of a 
** torrent." i. 538. 

What are we to understand by all this ? Does 
Mr Gibbon speak in his own character, or in 
that of an unbeliever ? 

Was it reasonable that the Jews should as- 
sociate with the Mosaical institutions a my- 
thology unsupported by proof, and whose 
usurped authority the wisest amongst the Hea- 
thens had disclaimed ; and would it not have 
been absurd for them to have assumed any 
part of a garb which did not sit easy on those 
who had long used it ? 

This, however, is not all. The Jews could 
not associate " the elegant mythology of the 
" Greeks with the institutions of Moses for 
the Greeks were Polytheists, and the Jews pro^» 

* Mr Gibbon contrasts the moderation of the 
Roman Emperors with the jealous prejudices of 
their subjects ' 7 and he remarks, that " the polite 
" Augustus roncUscended to give orders, that sacri- 
6 ' flees should be offered for his prosperity, in the 
H temple of Jerusalem." Decline and Fall, i. 533. 

C 



26 CHAPTER tk 

fessed pure Theism. Now, I should wish to 
know, how the belief and worship of mam/ gods 
could be, harmoniously united with the belief 
and worship of the One God ? It is hard then 
to accuse that unfortunate people of sullenness 
and obstinacy, for not endeavouring to accom- 
plish impossibilities. 

Of old, indeed, they went a considerable 
length in the way of accommodation. They re- 
sorted to Egypt, Phoenicia, and Syria, to the 
magazines from which the Greeks got the 
elegancies of their mythology, and with Jehovah 
they associated any other divinity whose wor- 
ship happened to be fashionable amongst the 
neighbouring nations : for they vainly imagined, 
that the One and Self-existent, when he 
condescended to be, in an especial manner, the 
God of a particular people, would communicate 
his honour to idols, the representation Gf deified 
men, or of material objects. 

If our sacred books may be credited, this 
experiment of association proved fatal to the 
church and state of the Jews ; and it is admit- 
ted on all hands, that no farther attempts of 
the like preposterous nature were ever made : 
So, from the memorable sera of the Babylonish 
captivity, the devotion of the Jews became con- 
tracted into the narrow channel of the belief of 
One God, instead of gently expanding itself in 



CHAPTER I. 27 

the various and shallow tracts of Polytheism. 

The sad consequences ensuing from the at- 
tempt to admit intercommunity of religions in- 
to the theocratical system, will serve to account 
for a circumstance in the history of the Jews, 
with which Mr Gibbon is greatly, and, I sup- 
pose, seriously embarassed. He says, that ({ the 
• devout, and even scrupulous attachment to 
" the Mosaic religion, so conspicuous among 
" the Jews who lived under the second temple, 
" becomes still more surprising, if it is com- 
" pared with the stubborn incredulity of their 
« forefathers." i. 538. 

Instead of " stubborn incredulity of their fore- 
" fathers," Mr Gibbon ought to have said, 
■ their propensity to idolatrous worship." For 
the ancient Israelites entertained no doubts as 
to the reality of the miracles performed at the 
Red Sea, and in the wilderness. Indeed when 
they worshipped Jehovah under symbols of 
their own devising, and did homage to the di- 
vinities of the Heathen, they violated the co- 
venant, and transgressed the fundamental law of 
their government yet still they meant not to 
abjure « the Lord their God, who brought 
" them out of the land of Egypt." 

It is true, that they were stubbornly incredu- 
lous, but in a different sense from that which 
Mr Gibbon figures to himself ; for they mur- 



28 CHAPTER X. 

mured at every obstacle in their way, and dis- 
believed the future accomplishment of God's 
promises ,# . 

After having mentioned the attachment of 
the Jews to the Mosaic religion, as he calls it, 
Mr Gibbon proceeds to give a delineation of 
that religion for which Christians were zealous. 
In this he appears to have copied some Christian 
divine, and to have added a few touches of his 
own, which are easily discernible. 

He next observes, that " the Jewish converts, 
C£ who acknowledged Jesus in the character of 
« the Messias, foretold by their ancient oracles r 
u respected him as a prophetic teacher of virtue 
u and religion ; but they obstinately adhered to 

the ceremonies of their ancestors, and were 
(€ desirous of imposing them on the Gentiles, 
« who continually- augmented the number of 
6( believers. These Judaizing Christians seem 
« to have argued, with some degree of plausi- 
« bility, from the divine origin of the Mosaic 
« law, and from the immutable perfections o£ 
« its great Author." 

Mr Gibbon is at pains to place in the best 
point of view the arguments which he sup- 
poses the Judaizing Christians to have used; and 
then he concludes with the following note. 



* Heh c. iii. v. 7.— 19. \ c. iv. v. II*. 



chapter r. 29 
« These arguments were urged with great in- 
« genuity by the Jew Orobio, and refuted with 
" equal ingenuity and candour by the Christian 
" Limborch." i. 543. 

It has been remarked, that there was no oc- 
casion for Mr Gibbon to have entered into a 
detail of refuted arguments ; or, at least, that to 
what Orobio urged, he ought to have added 
what Limborch answered. 

But I pass to something more material. It 
is said, that u the Jewish converts acknowledged 
« Jesus in the character of the Messias," and 
" respected him as a prophetic teacher of virtue 
" and religion" i. 542. Did their Christian 
faith amount to no more than this ? if so, they 
were far, very far indeed, from discerning the 
nature and offices of Christ ; and " the breth- 
« ren of the circumcision" must have differed 
little from " the Polish brethren.? This re- 
quires explanation. 

There follows, in the work of Mr Gibbon, a 
Dissertation on what he calls the Nazarene 
church of Jerusalem. 

In it he attempts to prove, that throughout 
the first century, and even during some part of 
the second, there were, in effect, two Christian 
churches ; that circumcision, and other rites of 
the Mosaical law, were practised in the one, 

C 3 



30 CHAPTER I. 

but in the other rejected *. Mr Gibbon seems 
to hold, that the former, or the Nazarene church 
of Jerusalem^ had the fairest pretences to ortho- 
doxy ; but that, being overpowered by the 
number of Gentile converts, and compelled by 
the necessity of the times, it agreed to relin- 
quish its primitive rites, and to become incor- 
porated with the latter, or the church of tlie un- 
circumcision. 

I do not propose to examine minutely a dis- 
sertation foreign to the great object of Mr 
Gibbon's inquiries \ and yet there are some 
circumstances in it which deserve attention. 

" The first fifteen bishops of Jerusalem were. 
" all circumcised Jews, and the congregation 
" over which they presided, united the law of 
« Moses with the doctrine of Christ." i. 544* 
In proof of this, there is reference made to Eu~ 
sebius, Hist. Eccles. h 4* C 5. 

* Toland, in his malicious rhapsody, called Nn%a- 
renus. goes farther. He says, that " the Jews,. 
" though associating with the converted Gentiles, 
u and acknowledging them for their brethren, were 
" still to observe their own law throughout all gen- 
" erations *, and that the Gentiles, who. became so 
" far Jews as to acknowledge One God, were not, 
" however, to observe the Jewish law \ but that 
" both of them were to be for ever after united in- 
" to one bond or fellowship j w Preface, p. 5. Tois 
the candid and consistent author of Pantheisticon 
is pleased to call the original plan of Chris ianity t 



CHAPTER I. 31 

Eusebius, no doubt, says, that the first fifteen 
bishops of Jerusalem were Hebrews by birth, 
and c< of the circulrlcision. ,, He adds, that the 
church at Jerusalem was altogether composed 
of believing Hebrews. 

But is it certain that all those fifteen bishops 
were " circumcised Jews ?" 

" Of the circumcision" may be a periphrasis, 
distinguishing the Jewish people from the Gen- 
tiles, without any reference being intended to 
the peculiar rite of circumcision and there is 
no evidence, that, after the burning of the 
temple in the days of Vespasian, the Hebrew 
Christians persevered in the use of that rite. 

Besides, it will be remarked, that Eusebius 
[1. iv. c. 5.] speaks of the succession of bishops 
at Jerusalem until the time at which the Jews 
were finally scattered, in the eighteenth year of 
Hadrian. Nov/, from the burning of the tem- 
ple under Vespasian, to the final scattering un- 
der Hadrian, there was an interval of no more 
than sixty-four years \ so that the greatest part 
of the fifteen bishops must have been born, and, 
probably, all of them may have been born be- 
fore the burning of the temple * \ hence they 

* If we suppose, as is most likely, that Jude, the 
fifteenth bishop, was younger than his predecessors, 
ft* ^v^ST 1 ^ fc ^ at ^ e k attained to the age of sixty-four at 
3 *2 'vSHe time when Hadrian subdued and destroyed Je~ 



32 CHAPTER n 

might have been circumcised, although the 
practice of circumcision had ceased amongst the 
Hebrew Christians at that remarkable sera. 

Accordingly, we learn from Eusebius, that 
Justus, the third bishop of Jerusalem, was a 
converted Jew * : So the circumstance of his 
having been actually circumcised, affords no pre- 
sumption whatever, that the Hebrew Christians 
continued to practise the rite of circumcision. 

It is next said, that " the Gentiles, with the 
" approbation of their peculiar apostle, rejected 
" the intolerable weight of Mosaical cere- 
s' monies." This is extraordinary ; for we 
learn from Scripture f , that the apostles and 
elders at Jerusalem did, in the most deliberate 
and solemn manner, pronounce the Gentiles to 
be free from that weight, which, it is here said, 
they rejected with the approbation of their pe- 
culiar apcstle. 

tusalem, it will follow, that all the fifteen bishops 
were born before the burning of the temple under 
Vespasian. 

oioficc lafo;, iivyim 07cJy ik nip tropes isg rov Xfa<;ov 

TnVtKOC'JTCe, 7rZ7ri<TiVK0T&)>j Uq XC&t CiVTOg 6)9, di^t^iiOCi, 

Hist. Eccles. 1. 3. c. 35. The words, uq uvroc 
which imply, that Justus himself was a convert, 
are omitted in the version of Valesius \ and con- 
sequently this fact cannot be known to those who 
consult his version alone. 
% Acts xv. 1—19. 



CHAPTER I. 33 

Toland, it is true, took much pains to sepa- 
rate Paui from the other apostles. But I ima- 
gined that the notions of Toland, and of his 
copist Lord Bolingbroke, had been long ago ex- 
ploded by every one conversant in the Scrip- 
tures # \ and it is singular that they should 
have been again produced by Mr Gibbon, an 
avowed friend of Christianity. 

* In the passage under consideration, Mr Gibbon 
has committed a small mistake. He says, " The 
Nazarenes retired from the ruins of Jerusalem to 
" the little town of Fella, beyond the Jordan 3" 
p. 545. But it was before the siege of Jerusalem 
by Titus, that the Jewish Christians retired from 
the devoted city \ Euseb. Hist. Eccles. 1. iii. c. 5, 
This retreat was in consequence of the injunctions 
of our Lord, Matth. xxlv. 15. Eusehius says, * pii 

xXXx»xxi t% Xctv 7Y)$ tv UaoG-oXvpois SKX.Xn<nxg^ y.c.T:6. 

TiVX X>vVi~y«M T6t$ XVToff} ^GKlUOtq X7T0KXXv^iafg OSh.u-iZ, 
7Zp& TS TTOMfXH piTXVX$-/)VXl TVIS 7T0\lCd$, XXI TIVX T^g TltpXlXg 

7ro\i¥ otKHV y^KiXlvcrixiva. UiXXdV XVTY}V ovouu^htih. k* 

t. i. That which Eusebius here terms " a revela- 
" tion given to approved or respectable persons," 
appears to have been an impression made on their 
minds as to the just sense of the words of our Lord, 
Matth. xxiv. 15. It is probable, that until the 
Christians saw the standards of Rome erected in 
Judea, they understood not . the full import of the 
phrase, " abomination of desolation." — Epiphanius,. 
in his careless and incorrect manner, says, that the 
warning to remove from Jerusalem was given by an 
angel j De Ponderibus et Mensuris, 1. xiv. torn. 2, 
p. 171. edit. Petav. 1682 ; yet elsewhere he truly 
says, that the Christians removed in consequence of 
Christ's injunctions. Hseres, 29. t. 1. p. 123, 



3'4 CHAPTER I. 

This hypothesis concerning the Nazarene 
church, in its nature extravagant, and danger- 
ous in its consequences, ought not to be ascrib- 
ed to Mr Gibbon. He has unwarily adopted* 
the fancies of Mosheim, and presented them to 
tJie public in an elegant English dress. 

Mosheim, with very eminent literary abilities, 
could not always resist the temptation of ap- 
pearing singular : having disengaged himself 
from the trammels in which his countrymen 
moved heavily, he sometimes wandered from 
the road. 

A passage in Sulp. Severus, which Mosheim 
admits to be " obscure and ill arranged," * fur- 
nished him with materials for a system highly 
praised by Mr Gibbon, i. 546. n. 21. 

It required the genius of Mosheim to work 
up such flimsy materials, and his reputation to 
make them fashionable. 

Sulp. Severus thus speaks : K Et quia Chris- 
« tiani [in Palestina] ex Judseis potissimum pu- 
« tabantur, (namque turn Hierosolymse non 
" nisi ex circumcisione habebat ecclesia sacer- 
« dotem), militum cohortem custodias in per- 
* petuum agitare jussit, quse Judaeos omnes 
" Hierosolymse aditu arceret. Quod quidem 
« Christians fidei proficiebat, quia turn pene 

* De Rebus Christianorum ante Constantin, 
M. p. 325. note *. 



CHAPTER I. 35 

" omnes Christum Deum sub legis observatione 
" credebant ; nimirum id, Domino ordinante, 
" dispositum, ut legis servltus a libertate fidei 
" atque ecclesix tolleretar ; ita turn primum 
« Marcus e gentibus apud Hierosolymam epis- 
" copus fuit It is irksome for one to at- 
tempt a translation, without having a clear ap- 
prehension of the import of the original. The 
meaning of Sulpitius seems to be this : " And 
" as the Christians [in Palestine] were under- 
" stood to be chiefly composed of Jews, (for at 
« that time the church of Jerusalem had no 
" priest but of the circumcision), Hadrian or- 
" dered a band of soldiers to keep continual 
u watch, and to exclude all Jews from entrance 
" into Jerusalem, which indeed proved advan- 
" tageous to the Christian religion ; for, in 
" those davs, almost everv one who acknowled- 
" ged the divinity of Christ, observed the 
" Mosaical law. But Providence so ordered it, 
« that the thraldom of the law might be re- 
" moved from the liberty of the faith and the 
" church ; so then, for the first time, one from 
" the Gentiles, Mark> became bishop of Je- 
" rusalem." 

Let us now see the commentary of Mosheim 
on this confused text. " It is certain," says 



* Hist.Sacr.l. 2. c. 31. 



36 CHAPTER I. 

he, " from the words of Sulpitius, I s That the 
cc Christians in Palestine, who were of Jewish 
€( original, joined the ceremonial law with the 
" worship of Christ, so long as any hope re- 
« mained of the restoration of Jerusalem, after 
" its first destruction by Titus. 2. That when 
« all hope of such an event ceased, at the se- 
« cond destruction by Hadrian, the greatest part 
« of those Christians rejected the Mosaical law, 
" and chose Mark, a stranger, for their bishop. 
« This they certainly did, lest a bishop of the 
« Jewish nation, through his innate affection 
« for the law of his people, should insensibly 
« restore the abrogated ceremonies. 3. That 
<c the abolishing of the Mosaical law was oc- 
" casioiied bv the severity of Hadrian, who 
" surrounded the site of Jerusalem with his 
« soldiers, and debarred all Jews from entrance 
« therein. This 3 says Mosheim, is not so cle.ar- 
" ly explained by Sulpitius as it ought to have 
" been, but his omissions may be easily sup* 
*? plied. While the Christians in Palestine con- 
" tinued to obev the law of Moses, they were 
« considered by the Romans, and not without 
« some appearance of reason, to be Jews ; so 
" the prohibition of entering into Jerusalem 
« extended to them also. But the Christians, 
" being exceedingly desirous of visiting that 
" city, renounced the ceremonial law, and, to 



CHAPTER I. ST 

u prove the sincerity of their conduct, elected 
" a stranger for their bishop. This separation 
" having been once made, the Romans al- 
« lowed that access to the Christians which was 
" denied to the Jews." All this, according to 
Mosheim, may, with moderate attention, be 
drawn out of the words of Sulpitius ?• 

But Mosheim's alembic is capable of much 
more : " It remains to be inquired/' says he, 
« why the Christians should have been so de- 
« sirous of having access to Jerusalem, as rather 
" to renounce their national law, and to place 
" a stranger over them for their bishop, than 
« to remain deprived of that permission ?" On 
this point Sulpitius is silent, but his commen- 
tator enlarges. " Hadrian had erected a new 
" city in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, 
* which he called JElia Capitol'ma, and which 
f he endowed with ample privileges. The 
« Christians residing in the little town of Pella^ 
" and in the adjacent country, were incommo- 
« diously lodged, and therefore were very de- 
" sirous of being admitted as citizens in the 
" new colony *, so most of them thought fit to 
" abolish the ceremonial law instituted by Mo- 
" ses *, and by thus distinguishing themselves 
" from the Jews, they obtained admittance in- 

M Htec omnia ex Sulpitio, valde licet negligenter 
44 scribat, mediocri attentione adhibita, eliciuntur^ 

D 



38 CHAPTER I. 

« to Mlia Capholina. It is excecd'mgly probable, 
« that that very Marcus, whom they chose for 
" their . bishop, suggested this project to them, 
« His name shows him to have been a Roman \ 
" and, no doubt, he was known to the Roman 
" governors in Palestine, and perhaps he was 
" related to some principal person amongst 
" them." 

Mosheim seems to have perceived that his 
hypothesis was leading to strange conclusions, 
and therefore he thought fit to check himself 
a little. " I would not have it understood/' 
says he, " that the Jewish Christians were led 
" to Reject the law of Moses merely from the 
" desire of establishing themselves at Mlia 
" Capitciina. Undoubtedly Marcus, who per- 
«< suaded them to the measure, did also demon- 
¥ strate, by weighty arguments, that Christ had 
« taken away the authority of the Mosaical 
« rites. His arguments, however, would have 
" made less impression on the minds of persons 

bred up, from their tender years, in the law 
" of Moses, had they not longed to be made 
" partakers of the conveniencies and privileges 
M of the new colony, and to be relieved from 
" the vexations and hardships which the Jews 
" suffered under the government of Hadrian ; 
« and, in a word, had not the second destruction 



CHAPTER I. 39 

u of Jerusalem made them despair of ever be- 
« holding the temple rebuilt, and liberty of 
« worshipping God, after the manner of their 
" own laws, restored to the Jewish nation." 

Thus we see, that had it not been for the 
arguments of Marcus, co-operating with the 
conveniency of residing at /Elia CapitoHna y the 
Jewish Christians of Palestine might have con- 
tinued for ages to use the Mosaical rite of cir- 
cumcision, and the Christian rite of baptism, 
to celebrate the passover, and to partake of the 
holy communion. All this is proved from an 
obscure, ill-arranged passage in an incorrect 
writer of the fifth century, who, to appearance, 
says no such thing ^ and, which is more singu- 
lar still, it is proved by a critic who undertook 
to confute the Nazarenus of Toland ! When 
we see the extravagancies of the learned, well 
may we pronounce, that " Pride was not made 
" for man." 

It does honour to the good sense of Mr 

Gibbon, that, while transcribing from Mo- 

sheim. he has softened some circumstances, and 

j r 3 

omitted others : for all his eloquence would 

not have been sufficient to convert the entire 

narrative from romance into history. 

Mr Gibbon seems to think, that the remnant 

of the Nazarenes of Jerusalem, or the Jewish 



4D CHAPTER I. 

converts who adhered to the Mosaicai law> were 
branded with the name of the Ebionites # . 

* It is generally held, that the Ebionites were so 
called from the Hebrew word Ebjomm 9 that is, poor. 
Hence Toland says, u They were called, by way of 
- contempt, Ebioniivs, or beggars just as the first 
<# - Protestants in Flanders, gueux" Nazarenus, p. 26. 
But unfortunately the name gueux is of politi- 
cal, not religious origin. The observation, however, 
was well meant. 

Mr Gibbon, 2. 546. not. 23. says, " Some writers 
il have been pleased to create an Ebion, the imagi- 
" nary author of their sect and name. But we can 
u more safely rely on the learned Eusebius, than on 
u the vehement Tertullian or the credulous Epi- 
" phanius." 

The question is not important, yet It may still be 
doubted, whether there did not exist a man named 
Ebion or H ebion y who was the leader of the sect cal- 
led Ebionites or Ebionceans. Eusebius indeed says, 
" The ancients commonly called them Ebionites 
u who entertained a poor and low opinion of Christ." 

TttTrztvag rcc 7rtpt r% Xpi?% J«|#£«i3#$. Hist. Eccles,in. 27. 
This is taken from Origen,,^ Principvs % iv. who 
says, u we do not receive those things in the sense 
" of the Ebionites, the poor in understanding, men 
Ci whose name corresponds with the meanness of their 
M intellects ; for Ebion^ in Hebrew, signifies poor " 
%k thoipfixvcpw ravla ®s 0i 'ptI^X 01 rv} ^!& v t> l & Efii#v#m t 
wis 7f%j%zix$ rn<; eiietvoius Z7ravvpoi 'Efiiav yct% o 7f\ax. Q $ 
7?ct£ Efi%ccioi$ ovo^ZiT&ii. Here the existence of such 
a person as Ebion is not denied. The passages in 
Tertullian alluded to by Mr Gibbon, are, de Prae- 
scriptione Haereticorurn, c. 33. and d. Came Christ^ 
c. .14,. 



CHAPTER I. 41 

He adds, for which he has the authority of 
the Fathers, from Justin Martyr to Augustine, 
that the Ebionites were held to be heretics : 
and it is to be presumed, that no man in our 
days will dispute the justice of that appellation* 

But he proceeds, in a note, p. 546. to observe, 
that <c there is some reason to conjecture, that 
" the family of Jesus Christ remained members, 
" at least of the more moderate party of the 
« Ebionites." 

He quotes no authority for this slight con- 
jecture, which, however slight, has a meaning. 
If we also may be permitted to conjecture, Mr 
Gibbon alludes to the following passage in the 
ecclesiastical history of Le Clerc. " It may be 
" that, amongst the inhabitants of Choba in 
« the apostolical times, there were some Naza- 
" renes who gave themselves out to be kinsmen 
" of our Lord, and perhaps were so The 
unvouched may be and perhaps of Le Clerc 

* " Nec quidquam vetat inter temporum Apostc- 
<k licorum Chobenses fuisse quosdam Nazarenos, qui 
** se dt?7ro?vv%$ dicerent, et fortasse essent." Hist, 
Eccles. p. 417. note 3. This may be true, but it is 
exceedingly improbable. See Euseb. Hist. Eccles. 
L ii. c. 23. 1. iii. c. 11. c. 20. c. 32. Persons any way 
connected with our Lord, appear to have been high- 
ly honoured in the Christian church throughout the 
first century. 

D 3 



42 CHAPTER I. 

hardly merited a place in the works of Sir 
Gibbon. 

Mr Gibbon might, with propriety, have said- 
something concerning the faith as well as the 
rites of the Ebionites, that remnant of the 
church of the Nazarenes, whose primitive tra- 
dition could have laid claim to be received as 
« the standard of orthodoxy f and this the 
more especially, because^ as Mr Gibbon knows, 
Toland declares it to be the concurring opinion 
of the Fathers, " That the Nazarenes and 
" Ebionites affirmed Jesus to have been a mere 
« man," &c. * 

Although Mr Gibbon be concise in his ac- 
count of the Ebionites, he is copious in descri- 
bing the character and opinions of the Gnos- 
tics. Si They were," says he, « distinguished as 
" the most polite, the most learned, and the 
« most wealthy of the Christian name ;" and, 
which is rather singular in men of that descrip-. 
tion, « they were, for the most part, averse to 
« the pleasures of sense." 

He adds, " that the general appellation [of* 
« Gnostics], which expressed a superiority of. 
« knowledge, was either assumed by their own 
« pride, or ironically bestowed by the envy of 
« their adversaries f 

* Nazarenus, p. 27. 

f The expression, " envy of adversaries," proves 



CHAPTER I. 43> 

Let us now see what that knowledge was for. 
which they prided themselves, or which their 
adversaries envied in them. 

According to Mr Gibbon, they took excep- 
tions at every part of the Old Testament, from 
the creation of the world, to the end of the 
Jewish theocracy. He adds, in a note, a The 
" milder Gnostics considered Jehovah, the Cre- 
« ator, as a being of a mixed nature between 
" God and the demon. Others confounded 
« him with the evil principle." 

So much for their judgment of the Old Tes- 
tament, and for their belief in a Deity. 

Now for their gospel-faith. " It was their 
" fundamental doctrine, that the Christ whom 
« they adored as the first and brightest emana- 
'< tion of the Deity, appeared upon earth, to 
« rescue mankind from their various errors 
« [Paganism and Judaism], and to reveal a new 
" system of truth and perfection." 

To complete the picture, Mr Gibbon adds, 
" They blended with the faith, of Christ many 
( i sublime, but obscure tenets, which they deri- 
" ved from Oriental philosophy, and even frojxx 
« the religion of Zoroaster, concerning the eter- 

that Mr Gibbon has not discovered any thing ift the 
writings of St Paul or St John alluding to the paaae 
of Gnostics. 



44 CHAPTER I. 

" nity of matter, the existence of two jprinci- 
« pies/' &c. 

Such was the result of the politeness and 
learning of the Gnostics. • The portrait may, 
for aught I know, bear a perfect resemblance 
to them ; but hardly can any feature of Chri- 
stianity be discerned in it, excepting this, that 
the Gnostics and the Christians concurred in 
believing the existence of the devil ; those, as 
composing a part of the Divinity \ and these, 
as the adversary of God and man *. 

With respect to the Gnostics, it is further 
said, that " they were imperceptibly divided 
" into more than fifty particular sects : — each of 
" the sects could boast of its bishops and con- 
u gregations, of its doctors and martyrs/' i. 550. 
This circumstance seems important, if it be 
meant, that each of the fifty sects of the Gno- 
stics produced M men who suffered death for 
c< their adherence to the faith in Christ." 

Mr Gibbon quotes Eusebius as his voucher, 
{Hist. Ectfes. L rv. c. 15.] The words of that 
historian are to the following purpose : « To 
u the account of the martyrdom of Polycarp, 
« there is added an account of other martyr- 
< ( doms in Smyrna about the same time , and 

* He had said before, that the deity of the Gno- 
stics was of a mixed nature, and sometimes confound- 
ed with the evil principle. 



CHAPTER I. 45 

« amongst the sufferers was Metrodorus, appear- 
" ing [or esteemed] to be a presbyter in the er- 
f< ror of Marcion, who, having been delivered 
"over to be burnt, was put to death # ." 

Here Eusebius mentions, amongst the mar-** 
tyrs at Smyrna, one person esteemed to be a 
presbyter of the sect of Marcion \ and yet that 
historian is appealed to as the single witness for 
proving, that " each of the fifty sects of the 
Gnostics could boast of its martyrs}'* 

This is remarkable, for at that very moment 
Mr Gibbon had the article in Bayle's Diction- 
ary, v. MarcioniteSy under his view. 

Now, Bayle admits that the Gnostics in ge- 
neral did not yield themselves to martyrdom 
in the cause of Christ. His inclination to con- 
tradict and to expose Jurieu, who had affirmed 
this, naturally led him to maintain the contra- 
ry. But the evidence of Tertullian was too 

* 'Ev ta civrv} 3« TFtgi avTd yexpY} xxi eiXXx. /u,&%rv£id& 

Cr'JV/iTTQ X&Tci TijV C&VTW XfAVgV&V 7^7? £Siy jU.it Ct VTTO TYIV CCV- 

l.iv. c. 15. Mr Gibbon might have added Ascle- 
pius, supposed to be a MarcionHe bishop, who suffer- 
ed in the last persecution, Euseb. De Mart. Palest, 
c. x. The account of the martyrs of Smyrna, first 
published by Archbishop Usher, makes no mention 
of Metrodorus. If the zeal of the copist omitted 
him, it was zeal without knowledge. 



46 CHAPTER I. 

clear to be obscured, and too express to be 
gain-said # : so all that Bayle could do was to 
remark, that " although the Marcionites agreed 
** in certain points with the opinions of the 
" Gnostics, yet, as to the point of suffering 
" martyrdom, they might have differed from 
" them f 

Indeed, had not the disciples of Marcion 
differed in some tenets from the Gnostics, it is 
hard to say for what point of Christian faith 
they could have suffered martyrdom. 

Mosheim attempts to account for it thus : 
« The Marcionites held, that violence ought to 
« be done to the body, as being composed of 
a evil matter, and of the dregs of the malevo- 
" lent deity J." This, however, is a vague and 
fanciful conjecture. 

* " Quum igitur fides sestuat, et ecclesia exuritur 
" de figura rubi, tunc Gnosfici erumpunt, tunc Va- 
" lentiniani proserpunt tunc ornnes martyriorum re- 
" fr abator es ebulliunt, calentes et ipsi offendere, fi- 
" gere, occidere." Scorpiace, c. i. 

-f- " II est bien vrai que Marcion convenoit avec 
" les Gnostiques en certaines choses, mats cela n' em- 
" pechoit point que sa secte ne fut difFeiente de la 
" leur , et ainsi, sans un temoignage expres, et sans 
64 des preuves particulieres, on a nul droit de lui 
" imputer its sentiment des Gnostiques touchant le 
" martyred Dictionaire, v. Marcionites, note, E. 
viii. 

X 66 Vim corpori esse inferendam, machinse nimi- 
M rum ex prava materia fcecibusque maligni Dei 



CHAPTER I, 4? 

Dr Jortin says, « That the Marcionites were 
w put to death, because they acknowledged Je- 
* sus to be the Son of God, and would not re- 
H nounce him, and sacrifice to idols *. M 

The latter part of this conjecture is probable 
enough ; and it may fitly be said, that the Mar- 
cionites, who died for that persuasion, were 
martyrs to truth. This testimony unto blood 
leaves no doubt of their sincerity ; and it would 
be presumptuous for us to assert that it was 
unacceptable to God, 

But this proves nothing as to the martyrs of 
the fifty sects of the Gnostics f. 

Mr Gibbon concludes his account of the Gno- 
stics with these memorable words : " Though 

they constantly disturbed the peace, and fre- 
" quently disgraced the name of religion, they 
" contributed to assist, rather than to retard 
" the progress of Christianity." 

That men who constantly disturbed the peace, 
and frequently disgraced the name of Christian- 
ity, should have forwarded its progress, is a pro- 

u constructae." De Reb. Christ, ante Constant. M. 
p. 409. note 

* Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, ii. 330. 

j- Dr Middleton [Inquiry, p. 209.] has a curious 
passage concerning the martyrs amongst heretics. A 
learned reader will find amusement in comparing 
the Doctor's paraphrase of Eusebius with the origi- 
nal. 



48 CHAPTER I. 

position which* at first sight, seems rather para- 
doxical. 

It is not the general proposition, that " God 
«* brings good out of evil/' which Mr Gibbon 
maintains here. He must be an incurious ob- 
server of the ways of Providence who questions 
it. 

But this supplemental secondary cause of 
the progress of Christianity is described to be 
something of a very different nature. " The 
" Gentile converts, whose strongest objections 
" were directed against the law of Moses, could 
" find admission into many Christian societies, 
« which required not from their untutored 
" mind any belief of an antecedent revelation. 
a Their faith was insensibly fortified and en- 
w larged \ and the church was ultimately bene- 
" fited by the conquests of its most inveterate 
" enemies that is, the Gnostics became 
" schoolmasters to bring men to Christ." The 
road appears somewhat circuitous ; but there is 
no reason to complain of that, since it proved a 
safe one. 

The divine legation of Moses was cc foolish- 
ness" to the Gentiles, of whom ,Mr Gibbon 
speaks *, nor could the prophets under the law 
have been better received by them than Moses 
was. There were many Christian societies, that 
is, societies of Gnostics, into which the Gen 



CHAPTER I. 4:9 

tiles could find admission, without being obli- 
ged to lay aside their prejudices, or to pay any 
regard to Moses and the prophets. In those 
societies, they were insensibly led to yield their 
full assent to the doctrines of Christianity. 

Let us see what they were taught amongst 
the Gnostics. God did not create the world ; 
man did not fall from his original excellence ; 
the legation of Moses was not divine no such 
thing as a Jewish theocracy ever existed ; the 
religion of Jesus had no connection with the 
Mosaical ceconomy ; and, to complete all, Christ 
did not die on the cross, and consequently did 
not rise again. 

On such foundations, if they may be so call- 
ed, was Christianity to be established in the 
minds of the Gentiles : hence their faith be- 
came imperceptibly fortified and enlarged ; and, 
in the end, the church received benefit from 
the triumphs of the Gnostics over moral evi- 
dence ! 

It has been sometimes supposed, that he who 
has suffered himself to be deluded into the be- 
lief of absurdities, may, with more ease, repu- 
diate them, than embrace truth in their stead ; 
and that he who is once made sensible of his 
having believed too much, is apt to disbelieve 
every thing, and so exchange credulity for scep- 

E 



SO CHAPTER I. 

ticism. But it fared better with those Gentiles 
who, having been instructed in a system incon- 
sistent .even with the first principles of natural 
religion, were insensibly led to the knowledge 
and firm belief of the truths of the gospel. 

Mr Gibbon illustrates his hypothesis by an 
historical example. He observes in a note, that 
« Augustine is a memorable instance of this 
H gradual progress from reason to faith. He 
a was, during several years, engaged in the Ma- 
" nichsean sect." i. 551. n. 37. 

I confess myself incapable of comprehending 
the sense of this note. The contrast between 
reason and faith may, in some respects, be just : 
but how can Augustine, by becoming a Chri- 
stian, after having been infected with the errors 
of Manes, be said to have made a gradual pro- 
gress from reason to faith ? Surely Mr Gibbon 
could not intend to dignify Manich<eism with 
the name of reason ! 

Let me remark, in passing, that the sermons 
of Ambrose, and a diligent perusal of the epi- 
stles of St Paul, were the means of converting 
Augustine to the Christian faith # . 

* Confess, 1. vi. c. 3. — " Arripio Apostolum 
* ; Paulum ~ perlegi totum intentissime et cautissime, 
" tunc vero, quantulocunque jam lurnine adsperso, 
" tanta se mihi philosophise facies aperuit," 8tc 
contra Academicos. 1. ii. c. 2. n. 5. 6. 



CHAPTER I. 51 

To the account of the Nazarenes and Gno- 
stics, there is added one dissertation under this 
title, « The Demons considered as the Gods of 
Antiquity and another under this title, " Ab- 
« horrence of the Christians for Idolatry." i, 
551, — 556. But as the sentiments of the Chri- 
stians in those particulars could neither serve to 
convert the Jews, nor to gain the approbation 
of the Heathens, they are foreign to the subject 
of Mr Gibbon's inquiry j and therefore they 
shall be passed over at present with this single 
observation, that what Mr Gibbon says of the 
universal influence of Paganism, although com- 
prehended within a few pages, has the worth of 
a volume. It shews, in so strong a light, the 
difficulties which Christianity had to encounter, 
that it anticipates the confutation of what he 
says afterwards of the weakness of Paganism, 



52^ 



CHAPTER II. 



J- he next secondary cause to which Mr Gib- 
bon ascribes the rapid progress of Christianity, 
is, a The doctrine of a future life, improved 
u by every additional circumstance which could 
<c give weight and efficacy to that important 
" truth." i. 53 S. * 

From the sequel it appears, that under the 
notion of a future life, Mr Gibbon includes fu- 
ture punishments as well as rewards ; and this 
he pronounces to be a doctrine true and impor- 
tant. 

It is a truth implying in it another no less 
momentous, a Providence. On these is reli- 
gious Theism founded, itself an excellent pre- 
parative for the rational belief of Christianity. 

Mr Gibbon proceeds to exhibit a view of the 
opinions of Heathen philosophers concerning 
the immortality of the soul ; and in this part of 

* Bishop Watson, Dr Chelsum, and other writers, 
have so fully considered this part of Mr Gibbon's 
work, that little else remains for me but to recapitu- 
late their observations. 



CHAPTER II, 53 

his work there are many things highly to be 
applauded. His conclusion, in particular, ought 
to be kept in remembrance : " Since, therefore, 
« the most sublime efforts of philosophy can 
" extend no farther than feebly to point out 
« the desire, the hope, or at most the probabili- 
" ty of a future state, there is nothing except a 
" divine revelation, that can ascertain the exis- 
" tence, and describe the condition of the invi- 
« sible country, which is destined to receive the 
« souls of men after their separation from the 
" body *" i. 558. 

There follows an account of the doctrine of 
the immortality of the soul among the Pagans 
of Greece and Rome, and among the barba- 
rians ; an account not altogether correct, and, 
so far as it relates to the Druids, very obscure. 

"With respect to what is next said of the opi- 
nions concerning the immortality of the soul, 
and a future state, which were entertained by thg 
Jews before the gospel sera, it may be doubted 
whether Mr Gibbon delivers his own judgment 
or that of others. His picture of the Saddu- 
cees, if at all like, appears to be very flattering 

* At p. 561. he speaks of " the doctrine of life 
" and immortality, which had been dictated by na- 
" ture, approved by reason, and received by super- 
" stition." Between the two passages there is pos si 
bly nothing more than a seeming contradiction. 

E 3 



54 CHAPTER II. 

and favourable ; and as to the Pharisees, we 
might suspect that, in one particular at least, he 
goes too far, when he ranks the " doctrine of 
" angels" among « the new articles of faith 
" which the Pharisees accepted from the philo- 
f* sophy or religion of the Eastern nations." 
But such things, being foreign to the chief pur- 
pose of this treatise, shall not he enlarged 
upon. 

We come now to that cause of the rapid 
progress of Christianity which Mr - Gibbon 
terms, " The doctrine of a future life, impro- 
a ved by every additional circumstance which 
u could give weight and efficacy to that impor- 
" tant truth." 

It is said, that " when the promise of eternal 
" happiness was proposed to mankind, on con- 
« dition of adopting the faith, and of observing 
C6 the precepts of the gospel, it is no winder 
" that so advantageous an offer should have 
" been accepted by great numbers of every re- 
's ligion, of every rank, and of every province 

in the Roman empire." i. 561. 

As Mr Gibbon is here treating of the secon- 
dary causes which accelerated the progress of 
Christianity, the evidences of the divine mission 
of Jesus must be laid out of the argument. It 
would be a great abuse of words, were one to 
reckon among such secondary causes the evi- 



CHAPTER II. 55 

dence of this fact, that " the Lord is risen in- 
« deed." 

Yet, through some unaccountable inadver- 
tency, Mr Gibbon has, at this place, introduced 
the resurrection of Jesus from the dead : for in 
no other sense can the following words be un- 

o 

•derstood. ".It was still necessary that the doc- 
« trine of life and immortality — should obtain 
M the sanction of divine truth from the autho- 
" rity and example of Christ." 

The resurrection of Jesus being once admit- 
ted, the proof of the other miracles said to 
have been wrought by him, will hardly ; be 
brought into controversy j and then the truth 
of his testimony, and the sure promises of 
the Holy Spirit, become manifest. But this 
leads to the consideration of the original^ instead 
of the secondary causes of the rapid progress of 
Christianity : a subject very distant from the 
avowed purposes of Mr Gibbon's inquiry. 

When, therefore, we lay aside the evidences 
of the divine mission of Jesus, as in treating of 
secondary causes we must do, that will appear 
most transcendently wonderful, and indeed in- 
credible,, which Mr Gibbon carelessly terms no 
wonder. 

Is it no wonder, that on a promise of eternal 
happiness, made without authority or creden- 
tials by some mean and obscure persons, for 



50 CHAPTER n. 

such must the case be supposed, great numbers 
6f every religion, and of every rank throughout 
the Roman empire, should have laid aside all 
prejudices, embraced a faith contrary to esta- 
blished opinions, and engaged themselves in a 
new, difficult, and hazardous course of life ? 
To believe and to obey, « to adopt the faith 

* and to observe the precepts of the gospel/' is 
represented as a mighty easy matter. But 
should we say, that there was nothing to hin- 
der great numbers of Jews from believing in a 
spiritual deliverance and a spiritual kingdom, 
and great numbers of Heathens from believing 
in the resurrection of dead bodies, the world 
might give us the name of Theorists. 

Christian immortality is a state which, hu- 
manly speaking, the Heathens who lived in the 
evangelical times could neither understand nor 
aspire after. 

Mr Gibbon proceeds to mention the addi- 
tional circumstances which gave weight and ef- 
ficacy to the doctrine of the immortality of the 
soul. 

" In the primitive church/' says he, H the 
" influence of truth was very powerfully 
" strengthened by an opinion, which, however 

* much it may deserve respect for its usefulness 
u and antiquity) has not been found agreeable 

* to experience. It was universally believed, 



CHAPTER II, 57 

« that the end of the world, and the kingdom 
« of heaven were at hand. The near approach 
« of this wonderful event had been predicted 
M by the apostles ^ the tradition of it was pre- 
" served by their earliest disciples ; and those 
« who understood^, in their literal sense, the dis- 
" courses of Christ himself, were obliged to ex- 
" pect the second and glorious coming of the 
" Son of man in the clouds, before that gene- 
" ration was totally extinguished which had be- 
« held his humble condition cn earth. 5 '—— 
" The revolution of seventeen centuries has in- 
" structed us not to press too closely the myste- 
" rious language of prophecy and revelation ; 
" but as long as, for wise purposes, this error 
" was permitted to subsist in the church, it 
" was productive of most salutary effects on 
" the faith and practice of Christians, who lived 
M in the awful expectation of that moment when 
" the globe itself, and all the various race of 
" mankind, should tremble at the appearance of 
« their divine Judge." i. 562. 

To all which there is added in a note, Ci This 
« expectation was countenanced by the 24th 
" chapter of St Matthew, and by the first epi- 
" stle of St Paul to the Thessalonians." 

Amidst all this pomp of Scriptural language, 
there is one observation which is hardly Scrip- 
tural. An error in doctrine is said to have been 



58 CHAPTER II. 

permitted for wise purposes, and to have power- 
fully strengthened the influences of truth. 

But several other things occur here that well 
deserve our attention. 

1. Mr Gibbon professes to treat of « the se- 
« condary causes of the rapid progress of Chri- 
" stianity and yet, instead of shewing nvhy 
the Christians became numerous, he changes 
the subject, and endeavours to shew ho<zv an er- 
ror, supposed to have become prevalent among 
Christians, had most salutary effects on their 
faith and practice. 

2. It may well be questioned, whether the 
immediate disciples of our Lord believed that 
the end of the world was at hand. Granting, 
for argument's sake, that, in the 24th chapter 
of Matthew, the end of the world might be 
understood as an event to follow presently after 
the destruction of Jerusalem ; yet still our Lord 
foretold, in language not ambiguous, that great 
and important events should ensue between thai 
destruction and the consummation of all 
things K Now we may well suppose, that the 
first disciples of our Lord would interpret any 
dark sayings of their Master, in a sense consis- 
tent with what he had more clearly delivered to 

* Kcti XiowruMfA, i&oU TrocTxpivq V7C0 tfoav^ a%£t TrXt 
pah) 7i Kxt^i thav. Luke xxi. 24. 



CHAPTER II. 59 

them. The mode of interpreting passages to 
appearance plain, by passages obviously obscure, 
was reserved for other times. 

3. To affirm that this approaching end of the 
world was' universally believed in the apostolical 
times, is, with all deference to those who have 
80 said, a palpable error : for St Paul knew the 
contrary to be truth, and openly avowed it in 
the face of the church. And it may seem sin- 
gular to assert, that this expectation of the end 
of the world was countenanced by St Paul in his 
first epistle to the Thessalonians \ while he him- 
self, in his second^ positively declares, that he 
never said or meant any such thing ; and add- 
ed these remarkable words, decisive of his opi- 
nion, " Let no man deceive you by any means \ 
** for that day shall not come, except there come 
f} a falling away first, and that man of sin be 
" revealed, the son of perdition And what 
he elsewhere says on the apostacy of latter 
times f, proceeds on the supposition that the 
end of the world was not at hand. 

* 2 Thess. ii. 3. All this has been fully explain- 
ed and enforced by many learned men. See, in par- 
ticular, Hallifax, Sermon v. p. 135. —140. 

f 1 Tim. iv. 1. It would be lost labour to pro- 
duce more passages from Scripture to the like purpose. 
He who can hesitate on this point, after such plain 
proofs have been laid before him, must remain un- 
convinced. As Mr Gibbon refers his readers to the 



60 CHAPTER. II. 

It is true, that some men, in the apostle's own 
times, misunderstood him , but after he had 
fully explained himself, it is likely that they did 
not continue in the wayward humour of still 
misunderstanding him, and perverting his senti- 
ments # . 

4. This ancient and useful error, as Mr Gib- 
bon is pleased to call it, could not have subsist- 

" ingenious and elegant discourses" of Bishop Hurd 
on the prophecies, I must presume that he has read 
them ) yet it is to be feared, that he read them mere- 
ly as a model of ingenuity and elegance, without at- 
tending to their matter and weighty argument. The 
interpretation of the phrase, " latter times,- ' and the 
account of the divisions of that period, serm. vii. 
would, if duly considered, have prevented many mis- 
takes. 

* It must be confessed, that in the days of Cle- 
mens Romanus, who wrote soon after the death of 
St Paul, the like error was revived in the church of 
Corinth, i. Epist. § 23. But it appears from that 
epistle, that the error was not general. 

Semler, a jprofessor of divinity at Hall in Ger- 
many has not scrupled to affirm, that " St Paul, 
" wisely, and of set purpose, accommodated himself 
" to the weakness of those men who looked for a 
" speedy arrival of the last day." [Ouorurn imbe- 
cillitati Paulus sapiejrter et uuaxose obsecutus est.] 
Semler. Hist. Eccles. Selecta Capita, p. 22. 

It is strange that in the -i^btetnth century, as well 
as in the fi *st 9 there should have been found men 
hardy enough to deny to St Paul the common privi- 
lege of being allowed to explain his own meaning I 



CHAPTER II. 61 

ed long in the church for the experience of 
one generation must have confuted it as effec- 
tually as " a revolution of seventeen centuries 
and then it must have lost all its salutary influ- 
ence on the faith and practice of Christians. 

Had the prophecy been so understood, as Mr 
Gibbon says it was, the Christians might have 
been led to distrust the promises of our Lord, 
when they saw that by the mere lapse of time, 
or the passing away of that generation^ the pro- 
phecy had become incapable of completion ; 
and this would have retarded, instead of acce- 
lerating, the progress of Christianity. 

Mr Gibbon says, " The doctrine — of the 
* 4 Millennium was intimately connected with the 
" second coming of Christ. " i. 562. 

This seems a mistake ; for one main objec- 
tion to the doctrine of the Millennium arises 
from the difficulties which occur in accommoda- 
ting it to what our Lord has said of his second 
coming. 

Mr Gibbon, in describing more particularly 
the Millennary state, observes, that « a city was 
14 erected of gold and precious stones, and a 
" supernatural plenty of corn and wine was be- 
f* stowed on the adjacent territory \ in the free 

enjoyment of whose spontaneous productions 
H the happy and benevolent people was never 

F 



62 CHAPTER II. 

66 to be restrained by any jealous laws of exdu- 
46 sive property # ." 

4t The doctrine of the Millennium -seems 

ff so well adapted to the desires and apprehen- 
" sions of mankind^ that it must have contribu- 

ted, in a very considerable degree, to the pro- 
u gress of Christianity." i. 563. 

This, however confidently asserted, is without; 
evidence. The doctrine of the Millennium, in its 
original form, is supposed to have been exhibit- 

* There is added in a note, " One of the {rrosr- 
u est images may be found in Irenseus, [1. v. p. 455.] 
" the disciple of Papias, who had seen the apostle 
" St John." One might suppose, that something of 
the nature of a Mahometan paradise was here under- 
stood. But the epithet grossest seems to have been 
borrowed from Dr Middleton, Inquiry, p. 46. and 
it only means that the passage, literally taken, con- 
tains a $r ss absurdity. Papias indeed describes the 
supernatural plenty in such hyperbolical expressions, 
that we can hardly imagine him, silly as he was, to 
have meant any thing else but an allegory. It may 
be observed, in passing, that Dr Middleton, while 
treating of the doctrine of the Millennium, uses his 
wonted freedom of translation. " Irenaeus," says 
he, " asserts that doctrine from the authority of a 
u tradition handed down to him by all the old men 
" who had conversed with St John." The words of 
Irenseus are, ^jemadmodwm presbyteri m?minerunt, 
qui Johannem discipvlum Domini viderunt, audisse 
se ab eo, &c. Adv. Hseres, 1. v. c. 33. that is, old 
men, not ALL aid men. The interpolation is palpa- 
ble, and its tendency obvious. 



CHAPTER II. 63' 

6<1 to St John. But men must, by some means 
or other, have been satisfied of St John's autho- 
rity to publish that revelation before they gave 
credit to it j and accordingly we know, what it 
was reasonable for us to conjecture, that he ad- 
dressed his account, not to the Gentiles^ but to 
believers. 

Besides, the hope of a temporary inheritance 
could not convert men to a religion which had 
given them the better promise of " a house 

eternal in the heavens ," and the being with 
Christ on earth for a thousand years, was no- 
thing to the being with him in a spiritual state 
44 for ever." 

It is more probable, that the figurative ex- 
pressions in St John came to be interpreted, by 
Jewish converts, into a resemblance of that tem- 
poral kingdom which it was hard for them to 
renounce altogether, and, by Gentile converts, 
to be accommodated to the old popular notion 
of Fortunate islands and Elysian fields *. 

One thing Mr Gibbon must admit, that the 
doctrine of the Millennium, as being founded 

* The prophecy in the 20th chapter of the Apo- 
calypse, be its sense what it will, is not accomplish- 
ed , neither have we any marks which might lead to 
the expectation of its speedy accomplishment ; so, if 
we inquire at all into the nature of the Millennium, 
our inquiries ought to be modest and diffident. 



64* CHAPTER II. 

on the Apocalypse, could not have contributed 
at all to the progress of Christianity before the 
publication of that mysterious book. It follows, 
that the church passed twice through the flames 
of persecution, and grew mighty by her trials 
and sufferings, without the aid of this secondary 

What follows is inaccurately expressed, and 
conveys a meaning very different, it may be pre- 
sumed, from the intention of the author. " But 
" when the edifice of the church was almost 
« completed, the temporary support was laid 
™ aside, the doctrine of Christ's reign upon 
(C earth was, at first, treated as a profound alle- 
{< gory, was considered by degrees as a doubtful 
« and useless opinion, and was at length reject- 
K ed as the absurd invention of heresy and fa- 
" naticism." i. 563. 

From this detail we might be led to suppose, 
that the principal teachers in the Christian 
church concurred in using the doctrine of the 
Millennium, as a temporary prop to the fabric 
of religion, which they were employed in build- 
ing, and that they threw it down whenever it 
became useless yet surely Mr Gibbon did not 
mean this, for he knew that the doctrine of the 
Millennium, as described by himself, was disli- 
ked by many eminent and learned persons, and 
that, instead of ministering consolation, it did, 



CHAPTER II. 85 

from the beginning, produce unprofitable con- 
tentions *. 

He concludes this part of his disquisitions 
with the following words : « A mysterious pro- 
's phecy, which still forms a part of the sacred 
« canon, but which was thought to favour the 
" exploded sentiment, has very narrowly esca- 
" ped the proscription of the church." i. 563. 

After the labour bestowed by men of supe- 
rior literature in defending the authority of the 
Apocalypse, it would ill become me to say much 
on the subject f. 

yovivxi, are the emphatical words of Dionysius of 
Alexandria, Euseb. Hist. Eccles. vii. 24. He com- 
plains that many persons in his time had become so 
fond of a book which they could not understand, 
to neglect the study of the gospels and epistles. 

f Semler thus speaks of the Apocalypse : " Apo- 
14 calypsis dubiae originis, et infirmiorum in gratiam* 
" pic! a rnogis qucm script a, varias sententias inde a 
** primo tempore experta est. Christian! ex Judasil 
" ncn respuerunt, sed plerique ea parum usi sunt, non 
M pauci omnino rejecerunt \ postea, cum Tychonius, 
" [saec. v.] spiritualem expositionem prseiverat, z 
" plerisque rccepta fait ; sic tamen, ut de historica 
" hujus libri origine et fide nondum omnino ita, uti 
u de aliis, nobis constat ; sed res ad arbitrium et 
w conscientiam lectorum hodie adhuc recicaL.' , Sem- 
leri Hist. Eccles. Selecta Capita, p. IS. 

It is hard to say, whether the temerity cr the 
strange inaccuracy of such observations be most re- 
markable. The author seems to think that, among 

F 3 



66 CHAPTER II. 

But the history of the *f hair-breadth 'scapes" 
of the Apocalypse is too singular to be dismiss- 
ed without a few remarks ; and perhaps it may- 
be in my power to add something to that gene- 
ral argument which is_, or at least ought to be 
familiar to all who profess any knowledge of ec- 
clesiastical antiquities. 

" In the council of Laodkea, about the year 
360, the Apocalypse was tacitly excluded from 
" the sacred canon by the same churches of Asia 
" to which it is addressed" note (67.) * 

the primitive Christians, there was a difference of 
opinion as to the authority of the Apocalypse, be- 
cause that work is " rather painted than written j M 
[picta magis quam scripta] * ? that is. because it is 
composed in figurative, rather than in historical lan- 
guage. But the learned proiessor did not recollect, 
that, were this a reason for inducing the primitive 
Christians to doubt of the authority cf the Apoca- 
lypse, a like reason oueht to have induced Jews as 
well as Christians, to doubt of the authority of most 
prophecies in the Old Testament, and particularly of 
the books of Ezekiel, Daniel and Hqsea y for thejt 
also are composed 44 in figurative, rather than in his- 
torical language." Sender seems to. suppose, that 
thev v/ere the converted Jews who, in the early ages, 
acknowledged the authority of the Apocalypse ) 
but Cyprian, neither an Hebrew, nor the son of an 
Hebrew, has quoted seventy-eight verses of the Apo- 
calypse, being almost the fifth part of that book. 

* This observation seems to have been borrowed 
from Mill. Prolegomena, xxvii. 44 Integrum insu- 
44 per Concilium Episcoporum Aoiaticorum in ipsa. 



CHAPTER II. 67 

If the letter to the seven churches of Asia 
had been truly addressed to them by the apo- 
stle St John, its authority would have been be- 
yond just doubt. 

Let us see the evidence produced for proving 
that the letter was not addressed to them by St 
John. 

After an interval of more than two hundred 
and severity years> the bishops of Asia thought 
fit to deny that their predecessors ever received 
such a letter, and therefore they tacitly exclu- 
ded it from the sacred canon. 

They did not however recollect, that copies 
of that letter had been circulated at a very early 
period throughout the Christian church, and 
that the copies had become numerous * \ that 
Papias, the contemporary of St John, spake of 
it that Justin Martyr, almost his contemporary, 

" urbe Laodicea, cui septima Epistola Apocalypseos 
" scripta erat, congregatum earn kidem canor/e ex- 
*' clusit." 

* It is plain, that, even in the times of Irenaeus, 
there existed many copies of the Apocalypse, some 
more ancient, and others of a more recent date ; 
some of less, and others of greater authority : for he 
quotes a passage from it, of which there occurred 
various readings, and he determines for that reading 
which was to be found " in all good and ancient co- 
ii pies J* 3 [sv 7rcx,cn rug o"7r8^eac<$ kcci ug%ctioig uvTtygoc- 
^fli?.] Adv. Hseres, 1. 5. c. 30. The original words 
are preserved by Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. 1. 5. c. 8. 



68 



CHAPTER II. 



quoted it ; that it was subject of a treatise 
written by Melito, Dishop of Sardis^ in the early 
part of tiie second century % \ that Irenaeus pro- 

* Nothing remains of Melito's tract, besides its 
title, which Eusebius has preserved. Hist. Eccles, 
iv. 26Y 

The author of " a discourse, historical and criti- 
u cal, on the Revelations," printed in 1730, seems to 
doubt whether Melito wrote on the Apocalypse, or 
dgainM it ? 

It would have been a circumstance of considera- 
ble moment, had Melito questioned the authenticity 
and authority of the Apocalypse. 

He was bishop of ' Sardis in the second century, 
and it is held, that he drev/ up his Apology for the 
Christians in the y ear 167 after the birth of Christ, 
If Valesius be right in his interpretation of the 
words of Eusebius, that Apology -was the last of the 
numerous treatises which Melito published. Euse- 
bius, after having enumerated the others, says, ski ■ 
Tr&Fi Ken ro 7T%$s Amt*>w&v. j3(fi\idi6v.. The passage is 
thus rendered by Valesius : u Postremus omnium est 
" libellus ad Imperatorern Antoninum." If it was 
the last of his works, we might conclude him to 
have been well advanced in years when he compo- 
sed it and this would make him almost the con- 
temporary of St John, who died about the end of 
the first century. But the words, kmo-^ may im- 
ply u above all," as well as, " after all and they 
may respect the merit and celebrity of the perform- 
ance, independent of the time at which it was com- 
posed. 

In either view, the date of the Apology being 
once fixed to the year 167, it follows, that Melito 
must have been acquainted with many bishops, the 
contemporaries and companions of St John, and must 



CHAPTER II, 69 

duced about twelve passages from it , and 5 not 
to multiply authorities^ that Clemens Alex- 



have known what their opinion was concerning the 
authenticity arid authority of the Apocalypse. 

Of Melito, bishop of Sardis, and Apollinaris, bi- 
shop of Hierapblrs, Eusebius thus speaks : 44 The 
44 fallowing is a catalogue of such of their works as 
44 have come to my knowledge. Of Melito. the two 
44 of Ewer A [literally, the of Easter, two'] ; and 
44 the [treatises] of the conduct of life, and of the 
44 prophets ;. the [discourse] of the churchP And, 
after having mentioned several others, he adds, 44 and 
44 the [treatises] of the Dei)H 9 and of the apocalypse 
" °f J°hny [txt&v zi$ nu'iTi^xv yvj)7w ct$iKTe&t ret vxq- 
rcTdyu:vc&. Mz\itoovq$, tol nt^i t% Hxor^a dvo, kvu rue, 

Koct rx Tri^i th ^<«/3oA*, zcti tyi$ W7T6Ket\in$siw$ 'luscvvx.] 

This literal translation is made for the use of the 
unlearned reader, and for the better enabling him 
to understand the import of what will be mentioned 
in the sequel. The plural rot is rendered 44 the trea- 
44 rises,* 1 and the singular, j, " the discourse be- 
cause, in the former case. fi;fi\tc& 9 or something syno- 
nymous is implied, and in the latter, Aayoc, or the 
like j TrohiTiitx., which, in classical authors, means 
44 civil regimen," is frequently used by the ancient 
Christian writers for " demeanour or conduct in life," 
and it is so rendered here. Let us now see in what 
sense the author of 44 the historical and critical dis- 
44 course" chuses to understand Eusebius. He says, 
that 44 amongst the tracts of Melito, these was one 
44 entitled, of the devii of the Revelations, as Euse« 
44 bius relates." 

A translation so extravagantly erroneous might 
have been ascribed to ignorance of the Greek lan- 
guage, for men with small Greek sometimes cavil at 



70 CHAPTER II. 

andrirms appealed to it upwards of thirty 
times *. 

the canon of ihe New Tes Lament, were it not that 
the Latin version of Valesius is somciently plain. 
" Ad hsec de diabolo ei de Revelatione Johannis." 

The same critic who found " the devil of the Re- 
" venations'' in Eusebius, could not find the word 
John there. Tbot would at least have proved, that 
a bishop of Sardis, in the second century, made no 
doubt of the Apocalypse having been published by 
one John. 

There is no reason for supposing, that in the same 
tract Melito treated " of the devil" and " cf the 
" Apocalypse ; w we might as well suppose, that 
what he had to offer concerning " the conduct of 
" life" and " the prophets," subjects totally difie- 
rent, were comprehended under the same tract. 

This is not said to serve an hypothesis, because, 
had the title of Mefito's treatise been such as the 
critic wished, there would have been no more ground 
for imagining that he doubted the authenticity of 
the Apocalypse, than that he doubted the existence 
of the devil. 

Besides, an additional argument would have thence 
arisen for proving that Melito acknowledged the au- 
thenticity of the Apocalypse. Had he not done so, 
he never would have written a dissertation on the 
sense of the word " devil," Revel, xii. 9. xx. 2. 
which however the critic must have supposed. 

Mr Gibbon will excuse the impropriety of intro- 
ducing into an examination of his work, these stric- 
tures on a writer who had not even the vulgar art of 
veiling bad purposes in specious language. 

* It is remarkable, that the Christians of Vienne, 
and Lyons of Gaul, in their letter " to the brethren 
u throughout Asia and Phrygia," describing the 



CHAPTER II. 71 

And it is to be presumed, that they did not 
know that the Christian authors who wrote be- 
fore the middle of the fourth century had trans- 
fused into their works almost every paragraph, 
and even sentence of the Apocalypse. 

Had they recollected or known these circum- 
stances, it would have been more judicious and 
more modest for them to have asked the con- 
currence of the Christian world, before they 
proceeded to what Mr Gibbon imputes to 
them. 

Hitherto the hypothesis has been admitted, 
" that the same churches of Asia to which the 
« Apocalypse was addressed, did tacitly exclude 
" it from the sacred canon." 

But this will be thought very doubtful, when 

persecution under M. Antoninus, make no fewer than 
six references to the Apocalypse, whereas they make 
no more than ten refeiences to ait the other Scrip- 
tures of the New Testament. See Remains of Chri- 
stian Antiquity, i. 210. In one place of that letter 
it is said, " that th( Scriptun might be fulfilled, he 
u that is unjust^ let him he unjust still ; and he that 
u is righteous, let him he righteous still " [Iva * y^x- 

<P?l 7ThY> Q MVOUOg CiV fifty (TUTU Itt 1C6Ci dlKCUOS 2tKeCtCJ- 

Svijoo srf,] Euseb. Hist. Eccles. v. 1. This passage 
is to be found in Revel, xxii. 11. and no where else. 
Hence we may conclude, that the Christians of Gaul, 
in that early age, admitted the authority of the 
Apocalypse, and supposed that their brethren of the 
Asiatic churches admitted it likewise. - 



72 CHAPTER II. 

the nature of the council of Laodicea, and the 
purport of its 60th canon, to which Mr Gibbon 
alludes,, are considered. 

A provincial council was assembled in the 
fourth century at Laodicea, in Phrygia, proba- 
bly between the year 370 and 380. The meet- 
ing was an obscure one ; and as nothing passed 
at it which in those days was held to be of im- 
portance to the Christian world, its precise <era 
has not been ascertained. 

The canons made in that council are lost ; 
but there is extant a summary of them in 
Greek, with two versions of it, the one by Isi- 
dorus, surnamed Mercator \ and the other by 
Dionysius, surnamed Exiguus. 

In the title of this summary, the council is 
thus described : " The Holy Synod gathered 
ec together at Laodicea in Phrygia Pacatlana^ out 
« of various jurisdictions of [the diocese] Asi- 
« ana *•" 

It was necessary to make this observation on 
the title f , because learned men, not supposing 

* H kyia. Yvvcsog « zxtx Acto^txztxv tjk $>evy:z; Tlx- 

Harduin. Concil. i. 7S2. 

f The title itself seems to be in some measure 
corrupted } for, if I mistake not, Laodicea on the 
river Lycus, the place here meant, v;as situated in 
Phrygia Salutari*, and not in Phrygia Pacatiana, 



CHAPTER II. 78 

the matter to be of any consequence, have con- 
fided in the justness of the versions made by 
Isidorus and Dionysius. 

Isidorus translates i*. $ict?o%M jt*^wv tu§ Ao-iuw, 
« Ex diversis regionibus Asias £ and Dionysius, 
" Ex diversis provinciis Asia and hence the 
title has been supposed to contain the word Asia, 
and its sense has been misunderstood. 

The word Asiana implies dicecesis Asiana, a 
tract of country, governed by an officer termed 
Vicarius Asiana dioeceseos. Under that diocese, 
Asia Major, comprehending the cities of Ephe- 
sus and Smyrna, was not accounted ; and ac- 
cordingly the bishops of those cities appeared 
at the general council of Nice as from Asia Ma- 
jor *, and not from the diocese Asiana. It fol- 
lows, that two at least of the seven churches, 
and these by far the most eminent, neither had, 
nor could have had, any concern in the delibe- 
rations of the council of Laodicea ; and that 
they did not even " tacitly exclude the Aooca- 
" lypse from the sacred canon." 

It seems probable, that the council at Laodi- 
cea was composed of the Phrygian bishops, and 
of some few bishops from other districts of the 
diocese Asiana. 

* Menophantus, bishop of Ephesus, and Euty- 
chius, bishop of Smyrna. 

G 



*74? CHAPTER III 

Isidorus relates, that twenty-fiuo bishops as- 
sembled at that council ; at the council of Nice 
forty-two bishops, from the diocese Asiana^ as- 
sembled. This shews, not only that the num- 
ber of bishops at the council of Laodicea was 
small, but also that a much larger number might 
have been assembled there, if the bishops of the 
diocese Asiatid* had all taken their seats. 

And now we see that we should form a very 
wrong estimate of the council of Laodicea, were 
we to consider it as the representative of all 
the churches of Asia. 

Having thus seen what was the nature of that 
council, let us examine what it did in relation 
to the Apocalypse. 

By its 59th canon, the council enacted, 
u That psalms, the composition of private per- 
ff sons, and uncanonical books, should not be 
€ < rehearsed in church ; but that the canonical 
u books alone of the Old and New Testament 
u shoald be so rehearsed f 

In the 60th canon, there is a list of the bocks 

* I presume that the reader will observe, that the 
word diocese is used for a civil distribution of terri- 
tories in the lower empire. 

"f* On a on i%(aT!K%$ •y/etXeexs Xtyurisu b Tr t SZJC.Xtl<TtCC 
ctKctvovifct Bitxtcz, aXXet [tovu to, kglvoviku rm fcx;y},< 

xat 7raXotixg hotQnmsi No other word but rehearsed 
occurs for y.iyirfai. 



CHAPTER II. 75 

which ought to be read> [ccmymtmH^^ That 
list contains Baruch, with the epistle, supposed to 
be the 6th chapter of Baruch j but it does not 
contain the Apocalypse. This seems to be a 
fair state of the fact. 

Here it is to be observed, that the version by 
Dionyshls Exiguus does not contain the 60th 
canon ; and hence we may conclude, that in the 
Greek summary which he translated, no such 
canon was to be found. Such being the case, 
one may doubt of its authenticity. Isidorus 
Mercator, who lived in a later age than Diony- 
sius Exiguus *, might have translated it from a 
copy which did not exist when Dionysius made 
his version. 

Besides, the version of Isidorus says more 
than what is in the Greek summary. Its words 
are, " What books ought to be read f ," [*V« 
fiiZxix w*ynw?*&4#t]} but the version adds, " and 
" to be received as authoritative," [et in aucto- 
ritatem recipi]. This changes the sense altoge- 

* Dionysius lived in the 6th century. He is re- 
markable for having, in his Cycius Paschalis, intro- 
duced the computation of time from the birth of 
Christ. His aera. begins with what he calls the year 
533. Isidorus lived in the eighth century. 

f " To be read," is used as being the most literal 
translation 5 but it is admitted on all hands, that the 
vord means " to be publicly read in churches." 



76 CHAPTER II. 

iher : for the bishops at Laodicea might have 
had prudential reasons for not allowing the 
Apocalypse to be read in churches # , and yet 
might have entertained no suspicion as to its 
genuineness and authority f: This may be the 
import of the 60th canon, as it is in the Greeks 
but the version of Isidorus implies more. 

The result of the whole is, that if the 60th 
canon of the council at Laodicea be authentic, 

* The church of England allows no more than 
seven chapters of the Apocalypse to be publicly 
read, [ch. i. iv.vii. xii. xiv. xix. xxii.] and yet she ac- 
counts the whole book to be canonical ; and so she 
might have accounted it, although those seven chap- 
ters had heen omitted in the public reading, as well 
as the other fifteen. This illustration is borrowed 
from Mr Milners tract against Mr Gibbon, p. 26. 

f If, as is most likely, the bishop of Laodicea 
bare sway in the council, we may see a reason why 
he should have wished to exclude a certain part of 
the Apocalypse from the public reading. As, in 
some churches, the praise bestowed on them at a par- 
ticular season has been arrogated to succeeding ge- 
nerations, so the censure on the church at Laodicea, 
c. iii. 14. &c. might have been understood to affect 
posterity in after ages. Here let it be observed in 
passing, that Laodicea was overthrown by an earth- 
quake, A. U. C. 813 \ and that the Neronian perse- 
cution began A. U. C. S17.'; it is not probable that 
St John would have addressed the Laodiceans, as he 
does at ver. 17. had their city been ruined about 
years before. This may contribute to support the 
very ancient tradition, that the Apocalypse was pu- 
blished under the persecution by Domitian. 



CHAPTER II. 77 

twenty-two bishops of Asia, towards the end of 
the fourth century, made no mention of the 
Apocalypse while they were enumerating the 
books to be read in churches. Thus the Apo- 
calypse did not at that time make so " narrow 
an escape from the proscription of the church," 
as Mr Gibbon imagines # . 

But it seems « that the sentence of the bishops 
" at Laodicea had been ratified by the greater 
« number of Christians" in the days of Sulpi- 
cius Severus f. 

The importance of the testimony of Sulpicius 
Severus depends on the meaning of the word 
pier i que > which he uses ; and the question is, 
whether, in the passage alluded to, it implies 
many or most. 

After having positively asserted that St John 
the apostle wrote the Apocalypse during his ba- 
nishment to Patmos, and under the reign of Do- 

* In justice to Mr Gibbon, it must be observed, 
that what he says as to the rejection of the Apoca- 
lypse by the churches of Asia, is merely an improve- 
ment on Mill's Prolegomena. Mill may have been 
an able collator of manuscripts, but he was not pos- 
sessed of any critical acumen \ witness his defence 
of the authenticity of the 2d epistle of St Peter, in 
which his prime argument is, that if the epistle was 
not written by that saint, it must have been written 
by an impostor. 

f About the Beginning of the fifth century. 

G 3 



78 CHAPTER II. 

mitian, he adds, « which book indeed, either 
« foolishly or impiously, is not received by many 
[or by most~] men 

Mr Davis f has collected examples sufficient 
for proving, to the satisfaction of any impartial 
reader, that Sulpicius Severus frequently uses 
the word plerique in the sense of several or 
many ; and that he so uses it when the context 
positively excludes the other interpretation of 
most, % 

Besides, Sulpicius Severus could never have 
meant to say, that the greater number of Chri- 
stians at large did not receive the Apocalypse 
as a book of authority. In his days, the Chri- 
stians of the West and of the South received it 
without hesitation-, and, had he said the contra- 
ry, we must have admitted that he opposed him- 

* " Qui quidem a plerisque, aut stulte aut impie, 
non recipitur." Hist. Eccles. ii. 45. 

f Reply to Mr Gibbon's Vindication, p. 71. 

X For example, Sulpicius says, " Hujus [Cham] 
" iilius, Chus nomine, Nembrod glgancem genuit: a 
** quo Babylon civitas constructs traditur. Pleraque 
u etiam oppida ea tempestate condita memorantur," 
Sacr. Hist, h 1. p. 8. edit. Elz.~~ " Media hyeme, 
" quae solito asperior inhorruerat, adeo, ut pjerosque 
" vis algoris extingueret," Vita Martin, c. ii. p. 218. 
— Sulpicius never could mean, that most cities were 
founded in the days of Nimrod, or that, during the 
hard winter which he describes, the greater part 
of men died of excessive cold. 



CHAPTER II. *79 

self to historical truth, either with the view of 
serving some favourite hypothesis, or from ca- 
price. Love for a favourite hypothesis, and 
the impulse of caprice, may have perverted the 
judgment of abler men than Sulpicius Severus ; 
but these causes, however forcible, could scarce- 
ly have had the effect of making him say, that 
the greater number of Christians differed from 
his own opinion. 

To all this let me add, that a person who had 
listed himself in a depressed party, might have 
been apt to say, that most men, or the multitude^ 
were foolish or impious, when they favoured 
opinions inconsistent with his own. But Sulpi- 
cius Severus stood not in that predicament. He 
thought of the Apocalypse as the Italian and 
African churches, and as many other churches 
did and it is hardly possible that he should 
have included them under a pitiful minority ; 
this, however, he must have done, had he 
meant to say that most men would not receive 
the Apocalypse. 

One important objection to the hypothesis of 
Mr Gibbon concerning the Apocalypse is stated 
by himself : for he thus speaks, " from what 
" causes is the Apocalypse so generally received 
« by the Greek, the Roman, and the Protes- 
« tant churches ?" 

That all Christian churches, however widely 



SO CHAPTER II, 

and irreconcilably they may differ in opinion 
to other matters, should with one voice assert 
the authority of the Apocalypse, is a remarkable 
circumstance, and hardly consistent with the 
hypothesis of Mr Gibbon ; and yet he has at- 
tempted to account for this unanimity, and to 
show that it affords no evidence for proving the 
Apocalypse to be authentic % 

1. H The Greeks/' says he, " were subdued 
c » by the authority of an impostor, who, in the 
" sixth century, assumed the character of Dio- 
w nysius the Areopagite f 

But there is no evidence of this \ and it is 
much more probable that an impostor quoted 
the book because it had already obtained credit, 
than that the book obtained credit, because it 
had been quoted by. him* This, of itself, seems 
sufficient to outweigh an unvouched assertion - 
to the contrary. 

* In such a case, Horace, as a satyrist, might 

have said, " Nil Scnptoribus arduum," 

\ It is needless to inquire from what source Mr 
Gibbon derived this information. Mr Davis [Replvy 
p. 7 3.] supposes that the following passage from 
Abauzit is alluded to. u L' Apocalypse s* iiitrodui- 
M sit ainsi peu a pen, sur tout decuis que le faux De- 
" nys Areopagite, qui la mettoit au rang des Hvres 
" sacres, commencoit a passer chez- les Grecs pour le 
M veritable Denys. S. Maxime, dans le septieme 
" siecle, fit fort valoir cet auteur." Discours His to- 
rique sur V Apoc?vlypse, p. 315. 



CHAPTER n. 81 
In the earlier part of the second century, 
Melito bishop of Sarciis wrote a treatise on the 
Kevefaiiori of St John \ and in the fifth centu- 
ry, Andrew bishop of C?esarea ; in Cappadocia, 
wrote commentaries on that mysterious book. 
Had those bishops doubted of its authenticity, 
they would not have bestowed their labour in 
the composing of such works. It is, however, 
taken for granted by Mr Gibbon, that their au- 
thority had no influence over the Greeks. 

Origen and Clemens Alexandrinus, men of 
infinite reading, admitted the authenticity of the 
Apocalypse, just as the Greek and Roman 
churches and the churches of the Reformation 
do at this day. Chrysostom, not only a learn- 
ed, but also a very fashionable preacher, and 
many others of eminent note in the Eastern 
church, were of the like opinion. To the same 
purpose are the testimonies, formerly quoted, of 
Papias, Justin M. and Irenseus ; and of the 
Christians of Vienne and Lyons, in the second 
century. Yet, it seems, the Greeks resisted all 
evidence, and persevered in their unbelief, until, 
at length, they were subdued by a knavish Pla- 
tonic visionary ! * 

* From among the testimonies for the authentici- 
ty of the Apocalypse, thai of the third council of 
Carthage, Can. xlvii. [an. 397.] is purposely omit- 
ted ; and indeed it appears singular, that Protestants 



$2 CHAPTER II. 

2. « A just apprehension that the Gramma- 
« rians might become more important than the 
« Theologians, engaged the council of Trent to 
" fix the seal of their infallibility on all the 
" books of Scripture contained in the Latin 
" Vulgate, in the number of which the Apoca- 
" lypse was fortunately included." 

It may well- be supposed, that the Theolo- 
gians wished to have the Latin Vulgate held as 
the only text of authority \_pro authentica.~] For 
had more latitude been given, and the public 
use of Hebrew and Greek copies of the Scrip- 
tures allowed, the grammarians, that is, critics 

should have had recourse to a canon which, together 
with the Apocalypse, receives the books of Tobit 

and Judith as authentic. 

It may not be improper to observe, that Pope Ce- 
lestin quotes Revelations xxii. 18, 29. in his letter to 
Nestorius, read in the council of Ephesus, an. 430. 

Yj TTgOlTTifalS TV) TTftTTtl j TCi yctP fZlTT&H; XOtl (pC&Vi^OJg 

ZTrt^sfciTai. ctvzyvapav ya% EN TAIS BIBAOIS tytftyi^ 

{A%TZ TrgQG-Tlfovat ctilV fiCVTi X^Oii^ilV, (AiyiGTYl yciP K&t T6V 

7r^Gtrri6ivroi xai rov cctpoctgcvTx, rt^ter^tct iso-f&u. Harduin. 
Concilia, i. 1304.— Pope Celestine was in such favour 
with the council of Ephesus, that the fathers joined 
in this acclamation : " Thanks to Celestine, to the 
" new Paul— to the guardian of the faith." 
HA YAH - ra> <pv Xxxi Trig tzwtius* ib. 1471.] This se- 
cond Paul asserted the authority of the Apoca- 
lypse. 



CHAPTER II. 83 

and philologists, would, by their improved ver- 
sions, have disturbed the profound quiet of the 
church. Against this inconveniency the coun- 
cil provided by one decree.; it was by another 
decree that the council ascertained the sacred 
canon, and left that place to the Apocalypse 
which it had possessed for so many ages. 

3, " The advantage of turning those myste- 
Cf rious prophecies against the see of Rome, in- 
" spired the Protestants with uncommon vene- 
K ration for so useful an ally." 

This passage in Mr Gibbon's work has given 
great offence, and, no doubt, it is oddly express- 
ed. For, not to mention other objections, it 
seems to imply, that the Protestants might have 
rejected the Apocalypse and expelled it from 
the sacred canon, and that they would have 
done so, had they judged that measure expe- 
dient. 

Hence we might be led to suppose, that they, 
who at the sera of the Reformation departed 
from the church of Rome, acted on a concert- 
ed plan. But it is the very reverse of this, as 
all men know, which their enemies object to 
them. 

The truth is, that the Protestants in general 
admitted the authority of the Apocalypse just 
as it had been admitted for ages throughout the 
Christian world, and that they interpreted cer- 



84< CHAPTER II. 

tain memorable passages in it just as they had 
been interpreted by eminent persons of the 
church of Rome., when disgusted with the ex- 
cesses, or shocked at the enormities of Papal 
dominion. 

Had the Protestants, in contradiction to evi- 
dence, suffered themselves to be guided by their 
chief leaders, Luther and Calvin, they would 
not have shewn any eagerness to seize " the ad- 
" vantage of turning the prophecies of that 
« mysterious book against the see of Rome." 

Luther at first rejected the authority of the 
Apocalypse, which the church of Rome her- 
self acknowledged # . 

* There are different prefaces to the Apocalypse 
prefixed to different editions of Luther's translation 
of the Bible. 

The editions of Luther's translation of the Bible 
which contain his original preface to the Apoca- 
lypse, are not to be found in Britain - ? at least they 
have been searched for without success, as well in the 
Bodleian Library as in the British Museum. 

By the favour of a worthy and eminent person, 
whom I am not at liberty to name, I have obtained 
from the Divinity Professor at Helmstadt the fol- 
lowing accurate version of what Luther says of the 
Apocalypse in his first edition, 1522, 

Prafatio Luther i in Apocalypsin Johannis* 
Anno 1522. 

u De hoc libro pariter suum cuique salvum relin- 
quo judicium, nec meara cuique sententiam aut opi- 



CHAPTER II. M 

Afterwards, indeed, he seems to have incli- 
ned more to the received opinion : But still it is 

nionem obtrudere cupio. Tar/cum declare quid mihi 
videatur. Erjuidem plura desiderp, cur neque Apo- 
stolicum censeam, neque Propheticum. Primum, id- 
que maximum, dubium inde orkur, quod Apostoli 
non visis inbaerere, sed perspicuis ac disertis verbis 
vaticinari solent, quemadmodum etiam Petrus, Pau- 
1u3, Cbristus in evangelio ; atque ita munus aposto- 
licum decebat, perspicue et citra imagines aut visa, 
de Christo et gestis ejus loqui. 

Pr^e!:erea, nemo Prophetarum ^ e:ens,r.edum Xovi 
Testamenti, ita totus est in visis atque imaginibus, ut 
vix possim quin quarto libro Esr^e ilium similem, sta- 
tuam, neque omnino vestigium inspirationis sanctions 
reperiam. 

Accedit, quod, ut mihi quidem videtur, nimium 
suo libro arrogat, illumque enixius, qaam in alio ullo 
libro ex numero sanctorum (qui multo majoris erant 
momenti ) factum est, commend at, subjuncta commi- 
natione, qui qmciquam q demerit de eo, de illo eliam 
Deum aderrvurum esse, &c. centra ea, beatos fore, 
qui contenta cbservarint ; quamvis nemo quid conti- 
neat scire, nedum observare, possit, et perinde sit, ac 
si totum non haberemus, multiqu-e alii sint libri ob- 
servandi longe praestantiores. 

Fuerunt etiam ex patribus olim multi, qui librum 
hunc rejicerent \ et quanquam Hieronymus in eo com- 
mendando veibosior est, illumque, ultra omnem prse- 
dicationem, sublimem esse, immo tot mysteria conti- 
nere quam verba, affirmat, fidem tamen dicto facere 
non potuit, et aliis quoque locis in laudando liberalior 
esse solet. 

Denique cuilibet ita licebit de hoc libro judicare, 
quemadmodum animo se ferri sentiet. Meus quidem, 
animus parum cum isthoc libro congruit ; mihique 

H 



86 



CHAPTER II. 



plain, from the style of his later prefaces^ and 
from the apologies made for him by his follow- 

ad tanti non faciendum hsec ratio sufficit, quod nec 
doceri, nec agnosci in eo videam Christum j in quo^ 
tamen primse cernuntur partes Apostoli, quemadmo- 
dum, Act. L " Testes mv:i estate" postulat. Itaque 
eos teneo libros, qui mihi Christum exhibent, clare ac 
pure spectandiiift. 9 ? 

The very same words occur in the edition 1524. 
But in the edition 1535, the strong passages ape 
omitted, and the book is acknowledged to be divine, 
with some doubt, however, about its author, and 
with the offer of an hypothesis by which the visions 
might be interpreted. 

In a later edition he thus speaks : " The third 
" kind of prophecy is that which foretels by bare 
6i images and figures without interpretation, like this 
" book of the Apocalypse. So long as such pro- 
44 phecy receives no certain interpretation, it is a hid- 
44 den and dumb prophecy, unprofitable and unfruit- 
" ful to Christians. And thus it has hitherto fared 
" with this book. Many indeed have attempted to 
u explain it, but still they have advanced nothing 
" certain j and they have rather hatched out of their 
" own fancies a variety of things inept and incon- 
44 gruous. On account of such uncertain interpre- 
" tations and hidden senses, I have hitherto left it 
4 4 untouched \ and this the more especially, because 
u some of the ancient fathers thought it was not 
" written by John the apostle. See Euseb. Hist. 
" Eccles. iii. 25. Fur my part, I leave the matter 
'* thus doubtful, that no one ??iay be hindered to be- 
44 lieve the book to be the work of St jobn^ or to do 
" as he chooses." 

In another preface to the same book, Luther 
speaks more favourably of it, but still in general 



CHAPTEPv II. 87 

ers *, that Luther never had an uncommon vene- 
ration for the mysterious booh. 

The other great reformer, Calvin, had no 
doubts as to the authority of the Apocalypse, 
yet he cautiously abstained from writing any 
commentaries on it. Nay more 3 although in his 
Institute he laboured to prove that the Pope, or 
rather Papal dominion, was Antichrist, yet he 
produced no passage from the Apocalypse as 
tending to support that favourite tenet f . 

terms ; and he concludes thus : " If the Scriptures 
" ought, always to be read with humility, modesty, 
" and reverence, such a frame of mind is peculiarly 
" requisite for the perusal of this book, that we may 
" not sink into an abyss of vile dreams and fancies, 
" as many inquisitive men have lately done, who 
" imagine that they have searched out all those se- 
" crets which God hath reserved to himself, until he 
shall gradually disclose their meaning, so far as 
" his own glory and our welfare require, 1 ' These 
versions have been communicated to me by a respec- 
table friend, on whose skill in the German language 
I can rely. 

* " Lutherum quod attmet, quicquid olim scrip- 
serit in veteri pvcefaticne, in ea sane quae hodie in co- 
" dicibus legitur nihil de Apocalypsi asserit aliud, 
w quam in dubio se relinquere utrum sit Joannis apo- 
" stoli, quod nonnulii ex vetustioribus patribus id in- 
u liciati sint, nihil tamen hoc ipso se prejudicari velle 
" aliis." Chr. Kortholt. de canon. Script, sanct. 
c. 18. 

f " Quant S. Jean, est reprins par Tange, de ce 



W CHAPTER If. 

We map now conclude, from the evidence 
produced, that neither Luther nor Calvin ever 
used this ally against tJie see of Rome ; and there- 
fore Mr Gibbon will allow us to add some 
words to his proposition, and then it will run 
thus : u The advantage of turning those mvste- 
£ rious prophecies against the see of Rome, was 

rejected cr disregarded by Luther and Calvin, 
" the chief leaders amongst the Protestants ; but it 
w inspired the other Protestants with uncom- 
tt mon veneration for so useful an ally." 

Mr Gibbon must admit the fairness of this 
addition, for the truth of it lias been proved ; 
and yet the addition dees so much impair his in- 
tended inference, that, had he been aware of 
the fact, he would, I persuade myself, have 

• this too hasty note. 

The short matter is this : the Protestants in 
general, noewithstandin.r the doubts and reserve- 
of their leaders, admitted the authority of the 
Apocalypse, as they found it fully and unambi- 

qu'il s^estolt agenouilie devant lui, M Sec. Apocalypse, 
six. 10. InstTl. i. c. 12. f. 3. 

u St Jean, dit que toys les saincts ont lave leurs 
" robes au sang de PAgneatu 71 Apoc.vii. 14. Inst* 
1. iii. c. 5. § 2. 

" L'Ecriture nous donne bien une meilleure con- 
a solation, en prononcant que ceux qui sont mons 
" en nostre Seigneur sont bien heureux," Apoc^ 
fiv. 13. Inst. Liii. c. 5. L itii 



CHAPTER II. 89 

guously established ; and It would have been 
the height of absurdity for them to have at- 
tempted to expel from the sacred canon, a book, 
whose prophecies seemed to justify their seces- 
sion from the church of Rome # . 

* Perhaps Mr Gibbon meant to say no more than 
what is here affirmed. If so, he has expressed him- 
self in words ill- chosen, and of dubious interpreta- 
tion. If we hold the Apocalypse to be, in plain lan- 
guage, an undigested fiction, it remains for Mr Gib- 
bon, an avowed Protestant, to explain how it should 
have become an useful ally to the Protestant cause. 



H 3 



90 



CHAPTER in. 



-Amongst the secondary causes of the rapid 
progress of Christianity, Mr Gibbon reckons 
" the miraculous powers of the primitive 
« church and he observes, " that the super- 
" natural gifts — ascribed to the Christians, must 
" have conduced to their own comfort, and very 
" frequently to the conviction of Infidels." 
i. 567. 

Here the reality of such supernatural gifts 
seems supposed ; and yet, unless the tendency 
of Mr Gibbon's discourse be misunderstood, 
their reality is questioned. 

He admits the truth of the miracles reported 
to have been wrought in the apostolical times, 
i. 570. 571. ; and there is no doubt amongst 
Christians, that the rapid progress of their reli- 
gion was partly owing to those miracles. 

Before the death of St Paul, the Christians 
had become very numerous ; and it is impossi- 
ble for any candid inquirer to deny, that they 
became still more numerous before the death of 



CHAPTER III. 91 

St John * ; and thus, during the aera of undir- 
puted miracles, Christianity made a rapid, and 
indeed an astonishing progress. The moral 
evidence arising from this must have tended to 
the conversion of infidels at that time, in like 
manner as it now tends to confirm the faith of 
believers. 

Here Mr Gibbon might have stopped : But 
he proceeds through all the succeeding ages of 
the church, and unfortunately engages himself 
and his readers in a labyrinth of controversy. 

I do not pretend to examine at large every 
thing that Mr G ibbon has said or surmised on 
the subject of miraculous ■powers ; some particu- 
lars, however, shall be touched. 

Mr Gibbon says, That " the Christian church, 
44 from the time of the Apostles and their first 
" disciples, has claimed an uninterrupted suc- 
" cession of miraculous powers and, amongst 

* We learn this, not merely from " the scanty and 
m suspicious materials of ecclesiastical history," as 
.Mr Gibbon chuses to speak, i. 535. but from two 
Heathen writers of great name. The well-known 
passages in Tacitus and Pliny the Younger, bear tes- 
timony to the amazing progress of the Christian re- 
ligion ; in particular, we learn from Pliny, that not 
ten years after the death of St John, the multitude 
of Christians in Bythinia, a province very remote as 
well from Judea as from the capital, was exceedingly 
great. 



92 CHAPTER III. 

them, he particularly mentions # the power of 
" raising the dead." 

We can hardly reconcile this observation to 
the truth of history. 

Under the phrase of « Christian church,^ 
Mr Gibbon undoubtedly comprehends " the 
" churches of the Reformation and that part 
of his proposition comes now to be considered. 

It will be difficult to show that the churches 
of the Reformation have claimed the power of 
raising the " -dead," and no less difficult to re- 
concile what Mr Gibbon says here, of such a 
power being claimed by them, with the remark 
which immediately follows, in these words « of 
i( the primitive miracles, the power of exorcis- 
4< ing is the only one which has been assumed by 
« Protestants 

Are we to interpret his general proposition 
thus : « That, ever since the days of the Apos- 
44 ties and the first disciples, the power of raising 
** the dead, and the other miraculous powers 

* It is possible that, by " Protestants/* Mr 
Gibbon meant " individuals in the Protestant 
" churches and yet, if the word be taken in that 
serine, it will not be easy to discern the tendency of 
the remark : for then he might have said, and with 
no less reason, that the Protestants assumed the 
power of raising the dead \ and he might have proved 
this from the celebrated story of the French pro- 
phets in the reign of Q. Anne. 



CHAPTER III. 93 

* 4 mentioned by Mr Gibbon, have been claimed, 
" some in one age, and some in another, either 
i4 by the Christian church, or by individuals of 
that great body ?" 

This interpretation, though vague and void 
x>i consequence, seems the only one that can re- 
concile Mr Gibbon to himself, and to the truth 
of history. 

Here let it be observed, in passing, that at 
p. 567. Mr Gibbon asserts, That " the Christian 
f* church has claimed an uninterrupted succes- 
u sion of power to raise the dead f while, at 
p. 569. he bestows much good criticism to prove, 
that Theophilus Bishop of Antioch, towards the 
close of the second century, knew not of any 
such power being claimed at that time in the 
Christian church. 

Surely Mr Gibbon does not look for our as- 
sent to such contradictory propositions as these, 
that in the second century, the Christian^ hurch 
claimed a power to raise the dead, and yet that 
the Bishop of one of the most eminent sees 
knew nothing of such a claim. 

Having premised this much, let us examine 
the noted passages in Irenreus, to which Mr 
Gibbon, after the example of Dr Middleton, 
alludes *. 



Inquiry, p.. 12* 



94 CHAPTER III. 

His words are : " But the miraculous cure of 
44 diseases of the most inveterate and even preter- 
44 natural kind, can no longer occasion any sur- 
44 prise, when we recollect that, in the days of 
44 Irenseus, about the end of the second century, 
44 the resurrection of the dead was very far 
44 from being esteemed an uncommon event ; 
41 that the miracle was frequently performed, 
44 on necessary occasions, by great fasting, and 
44 the joint supplication of the church of the 
V place ; and that the persons thus restored to 
44 their prayers had lived afterwards amongst 
u them many years. Iren^sus, adv. hseres. 1. ii. 
4J c. 56. 57. y 1. v. c. 6 *." 

As to the passages from Irenseus, Dr Middle- 
ton resolutely and fairly spake out his sentiments, 
and he declared his strong suspicions of fraud 
and collusion, f This plain dealing is laudable. 

It seems that the words of Irenseus have been 
misunderstood by some persons who wished 
well to Christianity, and by others of more 
equivocal character, and that he does not speak 
of any resuscitation of the dead which had hap- 
pened in his own days, and consisted with his 
personal knowledge. 

* Mr Gibbon quotes 1. v. c.6. not adverting that 
it is not to his purpose, and that Dr Middle ton, 
from whom he had the remark, quoted that chapter 
with a very different intention. 

f Inquiry P- 



CHAPTER III. 95 

1. No other instance of such a miracle is to 
be found during two centuries after the apo- 
stolical times. 

Eusebius indeed says that Papias mentions the 
resuscitation of a dead person. But without 
inquiring into the degree of authority due to 
the reports of Papias, it may suffice to observe, 
that, according to Eusebius, Papias did not speak 
of what he himself had seen or known, but of 
what had come to him by tradition, and parti- 
cularly of what he had learnt from the daugh- 
ters of Philip, one of the seven deacons # . Now, 

* The pa^ o^ot rivoc iropzi xcci 5 #AA#, a; #v ik Trctpo^co-io)^ 

U$ XVTOV iXQovlU. TO ft&V VVKpIx TYiV 'isgXTTohiV <&iXl777rCV 

Toy ctTTGfoKoy upa joti*; Svy^pzcri $ioc.T(?t'$/o6t)-~-~—-a$ di 

SlZVfAXTlClV, V7T0 T&y T& <Plht7T7r% &vycZ\i£W, fAVYIfAMiVUy 

vuv GYiiAtiwl'Qj. vix.3% yccg cvstTucriv st&l uvlov yzyoyvt&v 
Wotft. k. r. u Euseb. Hist. Eccles. 1. iii. c. 39. It is 
here said, that Papias related what he heard from 
tradition, and that he spake of what had happened 
44 in his own times," [x»T «t/7«/]. A tradition from 
the daughters of Philip might well be referred to as 
respecting the days of Papias, who lived in the 
apostolical times. It is possible that what Papias 
related on the authority of the daughters of Philip, 
was the miracle wrought on Eutychus of Troas, 
mentioned in Acts xx. 9. ™ 12. This miracle was 
wrought a very few weeks before the daughters of 

Philip saw St Paul at Ceesarea : they might have 
mentioned it to Papias fifty or sixty years after the 
went y and Papias, fond of anecdotes and traditionary 

stories, might have imagined the miracle to have 



9(3 CHAPTER III. 

it is certain, that the daughters of Philip lived 
in the apostolical times y for they saw St Paul 
in their father's house at Csesarea, ten years 
before the martyrdom of that Apostle. 

2. To borrow the words of Dr Jortin, 
H When Irenseus speaks of resurrections [rather 
6 s resuscitations'], he says the soul returned, the 
u dead were raised, and remained, a-vt y,uiv, with 
6f us, that is, with us Christians ; but he fixes 
" not the time when they were recalled to life, 
i( or were to be seen. It is not evident, there- 
" fore, even upon his own account of it, that 
il the dead were raised or remained alive, at the 
" time he wrote. It is remarkable, that when 
" he mentions resurrections, he has the caution 
44 always to use the aorist, itf^ 

it A # " 

Si Irenseus says, the dead so raised up " re- 
" mained with us for a considerable number of 

i( years j" \jrctg ) iv.nvttv crw v/aw r^xvcig If 

any of the persons so raised up had been alive 
at the time of his writing, he could not, with- 
out the highest impropriety of language, have 

been something different from what is related in the 
Acts of the Apostles. 

* Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, iL 205.— 
208. Dr Middleton, in his translation of the pas- 
sage, uses the past tense ; but he prefixes the word 
that, which, to a mere English reader, gives it the 
air of the presm!. See Inquiry, p. 11. 



CHAPTER III. 97 

used such an expression \ and this kads me to 
imagine, that Irenseus spake of some past event, 
and not of any thing which still continued to 
take place in the Christian church. 

4% Ouadratus lived before Irenseus* In his 
oration, addressed to the Emperor Hadrian, he 
says, that the persons raised from the dead by 
our Lord, " remained alive for a considerable 
" space, so that some of them reached even un- 
u to our times # ." Had Ouadratus known of 
any resuscitations in his own times, it is more 
than probable, that he would have mentioned 
them on that occasion ; and there can be no 
doubt, that if he had mentioned them, Eusebius 
would have preserved the passage. 

5. Neither will it be held presumptuous to 
observe, that when our Lord thought fit to 
raise up the dead, he performed that miracle in 
a public manner, and before witnesses the most 
unexceptionable, and that his historians have 

* 'H^j mi %p*w Uxw, m Ti 7f.au tig i.usrs£vg 
ring etvrm ctQtxovro Euseb. Hist. Eccles. 
L iv. c. 3. Dr Brooke, by some strange inaccuracy 
translates the words thus : " insomuch that some of 
"them were even at that time stilt living*} See 
Examination of Dr Middleton's Free Inquiry, p.23S. 
The words of Quadratus may, with more propriety, 
be understood of the state of things twenty or thirty 
years before j and it is doubted, whether aq tu$ 
nfivttgss can be understood of the present mo- 

ment. 

I 



98 CHAPTLTL III. 

carefully recorded all the circumstances relating 
to such wonderful events. The like observa- 
tion applies to the resuscitation of Tabitha and 
pf Eutychus, related in the acts of the Apostles*. 

It is with pleasure that I have an opportunity 
of expressing these sentiments in the more 
forcible language of Dr Middleton. " In the 
4t history of the Gospel (says he) we find the 
tc miracles of this kind, which were wrought 
u by our Lord, to have been performed by him 
M in broad day-light, and in the midst of crouds. 
" Thus, in the city of Nain, the widow's son 
" was raised from the b:er> as they were carry- 
4; ing him to his grave, in the sight of much peo- 
" pie ; so that the rumour of it went forth through 
" all Judea, and all the region round about, 
w Luke vii. 17. The daughter also of the ruler was 
48 raised by him in such a manner, that the fame 
£i of it is said to have gone abroad into -all the land, 
* Matth. ix. 26. And in raising Lazarus, Jesus 
4 < lift up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee 
** that thou hast heard me. And I kneiu that 
u thou always hear est me ; but because of the 
u people which stand by, I said it, that they may 
" believe that thou hast sent me : Upon which 
" many of the Jews who had seen the things which 
w he did, believed on him, John xi. 41. &c. f." 



* Acts ix. 36.— 41. 5 xx. P. --12. 
f Vindication of Free Inquiry, p. 62, 



chapter nr. 99 

From all these reasons, complexly considered, 
one might infer, " that there is no evidence 
u sufficient to prove., that after the apostolical 
i: times, the power of resuscitating the dead 
44 subsisted in the Christian church." 

In the passage under review concerning the 
resuscitation of the dead, Mr Gibbon speaks 
also of the miraculous cure of diseases : of this 
hereafter - 9 meanwhile it is proposed to make 
some remarks as to the other miraculous gifts 
and powers. 

The gift of tongues was originally conferred, 
to be a sign of the effusion of the Holy Spirit, 
and for enabling the first disciples of our Lord 
to announce the gospel to all nations. 

It was a miracle wrought on the persons who 
received it. There is little said of it by the 
writers who lived in the next century after the 
apostolical times, and that little is expressed in 
very general terms. Hence we may well hesi- 
tate as to the evidence of the gift of tongues 
having been continued beyond the first century. 

Before the end of that century, or the death 
of St Jolm, the gospel was widely disseminated 5 
and about that time, the canon of the Scriptures 
of the New Testament, so far as immediately 
relates to faith and practice, was well establish- 
ed. Thus we have, in the first century, an 
universal, church, and a written rule for its 



100 CHAPTER III. 

direction, drawn up in that language which was 
most generally understood. 

It is probable that, about the same time, there 
were translations made of the Scriptures of the 
New Testament into the Latin language * 
that which was generally received and chiefly 
used, had the name of the Italic version. But 
we have not light enough from the writers who 
have mentioned those translations to be capable 
of ascertaining their precise dates. 

Hence we might be apt to conclude, that 
there was a fitness in withdrawing, even at such 
an early period, the gift of tongues f : but we 

* 4 4 Ut enirn cinque primis fidei temporibus in 
" manus venit Codex Grsecus, et aliquantulum 
44 facuitatis sibimet utriusque linguae habere videba- 
" tur, ausus est interpretari 3" Augustin. d. Doct. 
Christ, ii. 11. 

f Dr Middleton could see no such fitness, al- 
though, on other occasions, he argues from fitness 
independent of evidence. For he thus speaks ; 
44 I might risk the merit of my argument on this 
44 single point, that, after the apostolic times, there 
u is not in all history one instance, either well at- 
* 4 tested, or even so much as mentioned, of any par- 
44 ticular person who had ever exercised that gift, or 
44 pretended to exercise it, in any age or country 
44 whatsoever. Mr Dodwell supposes it to have 
44 ceased in the reign of M. Aurelius, about^ sixty 

rears after the death of St John. ' But it is not 
44 credible, that a gift of such eminent use should 
i4 entirely cease, while all the rest were subsisting 



CHAPTER III. 101 

are incompetent judges of what is fit or unfit ; 
and therefore we must add to this, that there is 
no authority from Scripture, for supposing that 

" in full vigour, and abounding every day more and 
" more. If, according to the common hypothesis, 
" we admit them all to be true, it is not possible to 
44 imagine any cause why this in particular should 
"be withdrawn, and the rest continued 5 but if, 
44 agreeably to my system, we consider them^ all 
44 as fictitious, we then see an obvious and manifest 
44 reason for it : For all the other extraordinary 
44 gifts, of healing diseases, casting out devils, visions, 
. <4 and ecstatic revelations, afford great room for 
44 impostors to exert all their craft of surprising and 
" dazzling the senses of the simple, the credulous, 
44 and the superstitious of all ranks ; whereas the 
" vft °f i0 H U€S c annot easily be counterfeited, or 
44 a pretension to it imposed on men of sense, or on 
" any. indeed, but these who are utterly illiterate, 
14 and strangers to all tongues but their own." 
Inquiry, p. 120. Dr Middleton found it convenient 
to assume this proposition, That 44 if the miraculous 
44 gift of tongues did not come down farther than 
" the apostolical times, none of the others did." 
Some of his antagonists, instead of denying the pro- 
position, hastily and imprudently maintained the 
endurance of the gift of tongues in common with 
every other miraculous gift j and by supposing the 
evidence as to each gift to be equal, they embarrassed 
the controversy. This was just what such a pole- 
mical writer as Dr Middleton would have wished. 
He may hare been inferior to some of his antago- 
nists in learning, but in skill he far surpassed them. 
He led them, before they were aware, to defend too 
much ground : the consequences will be seen by 
any one who has studied that controversy. 

I a 



102 CHAPTER III. 

such a gift was to continue longer, and no suf- 
ficient human testimony that it did *. 

We know nothing of the time and manner 
in which the gospel was originally propagated 

* The only passage, with respect to the speaking 
with tongues, that occurs in any of the ancient 
Christian writers, is this of Irenseus. KaQag jcxt 
7»o7\Xm otx.%ou,iv aS&XQm sv tyj iKx-Maci Tr^oQwiKct %xgtsrm 
ustrx iftMTUV, Koti TrctvToSetTcctg XxXvvtm 5«S 78 IIvSVftCCTOS 

yXae-FUis. x,. r. i, ap. Euseb. Hist. Eccles. v. 7. 
Supposing Irenseus to have meant " that he himself 
" had heard many of the brethren in the church 
" speaking with tongues through the Spirit," we 
must acknowledge his evidence to be in point, but 
still it would be single *, and, considering the extra- 
ordinary nature of the gift, the manner in which 
Irenseus speaks of it might seem vague and super- 
ficial. Perhaps he only meant to relate what he 
had heard reported by others. The gift of tongues, 
when originally bestowed on the Apostles and cer- 
tain of the first converts to Christiahity^ was not 
only for a sign of the Holy Spirit, bnt also for a 
vehicle to communicate the gospel to the uttermost 
ends of the world. What Irenceus says has no re- 
lation to the propagating of the Christian faith - y and 
although his words were understood in the widest 
sense, the exercise of the gift could have had no 
other effect than that of strengthening and confirm- 
ing believers in a faith which they already held. 
It is very remarkable, that the ancient apologists, 
Justin. M. Athenagoras, Theophilus, Tertullian, 
and Minucius Felix, are silent as to the gift of 
tongues. Irenseus, in another noted passage, Adv. 
ha3res, i. 2. neither asserts that he himself had that 
gift, nor acknowledges that he had it not. 



CHAPTER III. 103 

amongst nations ignorant of the Greek and 
Roman languages, and of that dialect of Syria 
familiar to the Apostles, as inhabitants of Pa- 
lestine ; and therefore it would be presumptu- 
ous to say, how the gift of tongues was exercis- 
ed amongst those nations, or when it ceased. 

Another of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, was 
that of the discerning of spirits. 

" Amongst the various endowments of the 
Ai church, some of which were to convict gain- 
" savers, and others to edify believers, there 
" was one of the latter kind of special use to 
" support the dignity, and to distinguish the 
" divine original of all the rest. And this the 
4i Apostle calls the discerning cf spirits « a virtue 
" which, like the touch of Ithuriel's spear in 
44 the poet, laid bare the deformity of impos- 
14 ture. With this Peter detected Simon the 
44 magician, and Paul confounded Elymas the 
* sorcerer. 

" But when the thing itself had ceased, the 
" pretence to inspiration, for some wise ends 
" of Providence to us unknown, still continued 
" to infest the church with its wretched mimic- 
44 ries while that virtue which was to detect 
44 them, the discerning of spirits, was withdrawn, 
44 with the rest of the inspired graces : and yet 
(i the command, to try the spirits whether they 
44 were cf God y was still our duty : but to try % 



104 CHAPTER III. 

4C without the faculty of discerning, would be r 
6< at best; an impertinent employment. 

? From this embarrass we are delivered by 
iC the gracious providence of the Holy Spirit* 
£ who provided, that those whom he had en- 
" dowed with the gift of discerning of spirits , 
u should leave behind them some rules, where- 
4 4 by to try the spirits, and so to defend them- 
" selves from the seduction of error and im- 
i{ posture # ." 

Thus far an eminent writer, in whose school? 
to use a fashionable phrase, there is much to be 
learnt by philosophers and theologists. 

I do not perceive that the gift of discerning of 
spirits continued after the apostolical times*. 
The existence of that gift in the days of Ire- 
nseus can hardly be inferred from the single and 
indefinite passage in which he speaks of " many 
" brethren bringing to light, for the common 
Cf utility, the hidden things of men f It 
would have been well had the Christians of the 
ages which succeeded that of the Apostles been 
attentive to try the spirits according to the rules 
prescribed by our Lord and his Apostles. Had 
they joined the wisdom of serpents to the 

* Warburtoirs Sermons, vol. J* p, 156. 
\ Kui 7tcaXmv c&x,%t>piv oihzX(pm tcc xgvtpiot tmv 

ap. Euseb. Hist. Eccles. v. 7. 



CHAPTER III. 105- 

harmlessness of doves^ and remarked what are 
the triie fruits of divine grace, " their mutual 
" charity and unsuspecting confidence would 
*< hot have been so often abused by perfidious 
" friends *." 

Had the Christians of the second century 
possessed the gift of discerning the spirits, their 
amiable simplicity would not have been imposed 
upon in the way that Mr" Gibbon, after Lucian, 
relates. 

It may be doubted, whether the gift of pro* 
phecy was bestowed after the apostolical times. 

Here, by the gift of prophecy , is understood 
the gift of interpreting the Scriptures of the 
Old Testament, of applying them to the events 
of evangelical history, and of foretelling the 
fates of the church. 

Perhaps some loose or rhetorical expressions, 
implying a farther continuance of the gift of 
prophecy, may be discovered in the writings 
of the primitive fathers f \ but we hare the 

* Decline and Fall, i, 573. Prudens simplicilas 
ought to be the motto of every judicious Christian. 

f Dr Middleton imagined that the evidence of 
Justin. M. as to every miraculous gift, might be set 
aside, on proof that the honest, though inaccurate 
apologist, arrogated to himself a gift of interpreting 
the scriptures, which, in truth, he possessed not. 
Had Dr Middleton made good his assertion, still 
the conclusions which he meant to draw from it 



108 CHAPTER HI, 

sacred canon before us, and we have the writ- 
ings of many of those fathers stiil extant, and, 
on inquiry, we shaii find that later commenta- 
tors, who never pretended to the gift of pro- 
phecy, have clone more towards a rational and 
scientific application of the Old Testament to 
the New, than ever the primitive fathers did. 

With respect to the foreseeing of the fates 
of the church, already mentioned as part of the 
gift of prophecy, it does not appear that the 

might have been disputed. But the probability is, 
that Justin. M. did not pretend to any farther 
knowledge than what sincere Christians, in general, 
possessed. His words are, AvsKetXtytyiv %v ifttv 7rccv~x 
erx Km tuv ygattyw rm '%ct%iTQS otvrM vivoyixxpev* 

i>,#&oirUv %&£tv nwm. Dial, part 2. Be this as it 
will, Dr Middleton ought not to have rendered 
rm %m%it6s aunt, thus, " by the special gift of God/' 
The interpolation of the word " special" is capable 
of misleading an unlearned reader. See Inquiry, 
p. 27. 30. Dr Middleton, when pressed by his an- 
tagonists on this subject, affirmed that he did not 
understand the meaning of the theological phrase, 
ordinary grace I See 'Vindication, p. 47. — 54. la 
the same passage, Dr Middleton translates vwou 
ravrx, " to understand the Scriptures." One should 
have supposed that, by analogy, nvonxivm tcivtu meant 
" to have understood the Scriptures m y " but, for the 
sake of elegance, these words are translated, " to 
" acquire so perfect a knowledge of the Holy 
" Scriptures J' 



CHAPTER III. 10T 

fathers had any further knowledge of that sub- 
ject than what they obtained from the sacred 
canon. 

But it may be said, that some of the primi- 
tive Christians, after the apostolical age, might 
have had the gift of prophecy, although the 
fathers themselves had it not. 

This, however, is exceedingly improbable : 
for, had such been the fact, the fathers would 
have given frequent and unequivocal testimony 
to it. But there hardly appears a vestige of 
any thing of that nature, even in the writings 
of the lathers who lived in the second century*, 

* Origex, speaking of the state of things in the 
early part of the third century, says, " the Christians 
u perform man} cures, and they foresee some things, 
" as the Word [AOros] willeth [ttoXXu? leta-us 
S7rtTt\%cn, kxi own rtva^ xxrct to fixX-tytz, ra Aoy%, Con- 
tra Celsurn. 1.1. p. 3 k edit. Spencer.] It is singular 
enough that learned men, who differed greatly in 
other matters, should have concurred in mistran- 
slating such plain words as o^ti t>v&. Spencer 
renders them " praevidefit/atar instead of " prse- 
" vident qucedam j" Dr Middleton, " they foresee 
" things to come," Inquiry, p. 14. j and Dr Chap- 
man, " they foretell things to come," Charge, note, 
p. 98. Thus, as if it were by common consent, 
they omit the material word some, and they leave 
unlearned readers to conclude, that Origen asserted 
the gift of prophecy to have been no less general in 
the early part of the third century than in the apo- 
stolical times. This is just the reverse of what he 
says, as will appear from the passage itself, to be 



10& CHAPTER III. 

expecting what is to be seen in Tercullian ; and 
Tertullian, himself a visionary, and one who 
looked on Montanus as a person divinely in- 
spired, cannot be admitted in the character of 
a credible witness for proving the continuance 
of the gift of prophecy unto his own times. 

It may be doubted, whether the knowledge 
of future events, communicated in the form of 
a vision # , ought to be treated of under the 
head of miraculous gifts and powers. Let it, 
however, be observed in general, that we must 
be very sure of the evidence respecting such 
knowledge by vision, before we admit the reali- 
ty of any supposed examples of it. The num- 
berless instances of delusion as to this particular, 
although not sufficient to authorise an undis- 
tinguishing scepticism, are at least sufficient to 
put us upon our guard against a rash assent to 
pretensions of this nature. While we admit, 
and indeed who can deny it, that the Divinity 

quoted hereafter at full length. Indeed, it may be 
concluded from the words of Origen, that in his 
times, there were small pretensions to the foreseeing 
of events. 

* Dr Middle ton has spoken of visions in a light 
style, and with distinguished incorrectness, Inquiry, 
p. 96 — 98. There are many learned and useful 
observations on this subject to be found in Dr Ghel- 
sum's Remarks on the two last chapters of Mr Gib- 
bon's History, p. 71.— 80. 



CHAPTER III. 10B 

may at ail times communicate the knowledge of 
future events in the form of a vision, it behoves 
us to weigh well the evidence produced for 
proving that the Divinity did communicate 
such knowledge at any time after the apostoli- 
cal age. 

As to " the miraculous powers of expelling 
" evil spirits, and of healing diseases/' there 
seems to be more evidence that they continued 
in the church after the apostolical age, than 
there is as to the others formerly mentioned. 

With respect to the power of expelling evil 
spirits from the bodies of men, we must observe 
in the entrance, that it seems wrong to deny, 
that, at the coming of our Lord, certain male- 
volent spirits were permitted to possess men, 
and to afflict them in a manner to us inexpli- 
cable. 

This may not be the less true because inex- 
plicable : for there are mysteries no less pro- 
found in the book of nature> the truth of which 
is universally admitted, than in the book of grace. 

Some learned persons, of whose sincerity in 
the Christian faith there can be no doubt, have, 
nevertheless, controverted the proposition, that 
u at the coming of our Lord, certain malevolent 
" spirits were permitted to possess men f yet 
the texts of Scripture in support of it are so 
numerous and so express, that hardly any thing 

K 



110 CHAPTER III. 

could have produced the fanciful interpretations 
of the case of the demoniacs^ but a fond wish of 
making all circumstances plain in a book which 
is, from its nature, mysterious, and, until the 
consummation of all things, will not be fully 
understood. 

In the days of our Lord and his Apostles, 
possession by evil spirits had the appearance of 
lunacy and of other diseases. 

It has been judiciously observed # , that dis- 
eases inflicted by possessions, must have resem- 
bled the diseases which occur in the general 
course of things. From the likeness of the 
symptoms in both cases, a possession by evil 
spirits might have been considered as a natural 
disease, and a natural disease as a possession by 
evil spirits. 

The sacred historians, writing to the people 
at large, do not always draw the precise Hue 
between those cases ; yet, on some occasions, 
they distinguish, by unambiguous circumstances, 
possession from disease f. 

That which Christ did by his own authority, 
his Apostles and his first disciples did in his 
name \ and if it pleased God to permit posses- 

* Warburton, Serm. vol. iii. p. 235. 

f See, particularly, Matth.iv. 24.; viii. 2S.~ 32. ; 
Mark i. 23.— 26.; 'iii. 11. 12. $ v. 6.— 13. ; Luke 
iv.33.— 35.; viii. 27.— 33. 



CHAPTER III. Ill 

sions after the apostolical age, we are warranted 
to conclude, that the persons so possessed were 
freed from evil spirits in the name of our Lord. 

There is no doubt that, even after the apo- 
stolical age, the Christians pretended to exercise 
the power of casting out evil spirits. 

That this was a mere pretence, founded on 
collusion, is an extravagant hypothesis. Such 
a fraud could not have been carried on suc- 
cessfully, and without detection, for upwards of t 
two centuries, by a persecuted and depressed 
party, whose religion was not only contrary to 
the religion of the state, but also incompatible 
with it; 

But, possibly, there may be some errors in 
the circumstances which Tertullian and other 
ancient writers relate concerning the ejection 
of evil spirits. 

Thus, for example, Minucius Felix speaks of 
evil spirits, " who either instantly spring oid> or 
" disappear by degrees, as the faith of the pa- 
« tient assists, or the grace of the healer influ- 
« ences # ." The expression, « grace of the 
" healer," [gratia cutanti% may mean, " the 
« favour of him who heals," that is, "God," 

* " Vel exfllunt statim, vel evanescunt gradatim, 
' 4 prout fides parentis adjuvat, aut gratia curantis 
u aspirat : j" Minucius Felix, c. xxvii. p. 283. edit, 
GronoviL 



112 CHAPTER Illr 

or, « the grace bestowed on the exorcist." In 
either sense of the expression, it is plain, that 
a progressive change from disease, of whatever 
nature., to health, is here meant. Between the 
cure of demoniacs, properly so called, in the 
New Testament, and that of the persons men- 
tioned by Minucius Felix, there is this obvious 
and characteristical difference, that the former 
k always described to have been instantaneous, 
and the latter is said to have been sometimes 
gradual. 

To assert that God may not work a mira- 
culous cure by degrees as well as instantly, 
would be blasphemous and absurd ; but stiil, 
without offence to reason or piety, we may 
observe, that a gradual cure, if considered as 
miraculous, ought to be ascertained by strong 
evidence indeed j because such a cure has no 
support from the analogy of miracles admitted 
to be true, and to a certain degree at least, it 
participates of the nature of stories whose cre- 
dit is dubious. 

Again, Minucius Felix, in imitation of Ter- 
tullian*, says, that an evil spirit, when he was 
expelled, acknowledged himself to be Saturn, 
Serapis, Jupiter, or some other imagined divini- 



* Tertullian, Apol. c. 23. 



CHAPTER III. 1 13 

ty whom the Pagans worshipped *. Here we 
must be allowed to hesitate. It is probable that 
most of the gods of Paganism were deified he- 
roes, men who, by reason of their having esta- 
blished equal laws, or invented useful arts, did, 
after their decease, obtain divine honours from 
the vulgar. 

To this purpose Minucius Felix himself 
speaks : " Before the globe was laid open by 
« the intercourse of commerce, and before na- 
" tions borrowed from each other, as well reli- 
ef gious ceremonies as manners', each people ve- 
" nerated its founder, or one of its renowned 
" leaders, or a queen superior in fortitude to 
" her sex, or any fellow-citizen, who, by the 
w discovery of some useful art, and by commu- 
*f nicating it to mankind, deserved to be held in, 
a remembrance. Thus were the dead reward- 
" ed, and, at the same time, posterity was ex- 
f < cited to imitate them. Read the works of 
" historians and philosophers, and you will per- 
" ceive the truth of what I assert. Euhemerus 
ff enumerates those who have been considered 
H as deities, for their personal merit, or for 
l < benefits conferred by them on mankind \ and 

* " Ipse Saturnus, et Serapis, et Jupiter, et quic- 
a quid daeraonum colitis, victi dolore, quod sunt, 
u eloquuntur :' r c. xxvii. p. 280. 

K 3 



ft4 CHAPTER III. 

u he recounts their births, countries, and places 
u of burial, and points them out in various re- 
«• gions*," &c. 

In another place he says, " All the writers 
" on antiquity, whether Greek or Roman, have 
« related that Saturn, the first of this race and 

" swarm of divinities, was a man. Now, this 

» Saturn, dreading the fury of his son, fled 
" from Crete, and came to Italy ; and having 
* been admitted by Janus to- the privileges of 
" hospitality, he instructed the rude and clown- 

« ish inhabitants in many things. He, there- 

a fore, who fled was a man, — the father of a 
*'* man, and himself sprung from man. — Jupiter, 
*< the son of Saturn, his father having been 
u thrust out, reigned in Crete ; there he had 
« sons, and there also he died. The cave of Ju- 
w piter is still visited, his tomb is pointed out 5 

* " Benique, et antequarn commercns orbis pate- 
#< ret, et antequam gentes ritus suos moresque misce- 
" rent, unaquseque natio eonditorem suum, aut du- 
u cem inclytum, aut reginam pudicam sexu suo for- 
64 tiorem, aut alicujus muneris vel artis repertorem, 
u venerebatur, ut civem bonse memoriae * 7 sic et de- 
" functis praemium et futuris dabatur exemplum ; 
'* lege historicorum [al. Stoicorum] scripta, vel scrip- 
" ta sapientium \ eadem mecum recognosces 5 ob 
M merita virtutis, aut muneris deos habitos, Euheme- 
u rus exsequitur, et eorum natales, patrias, sepulchra 
M dinumerat, et par provincias monstrat*" &c. Mi- 
mic. Felix, c. xx. xxi. 



CH AFTER III. 115 

* and he is proved to be a mortal from the very 
" nature of the sacred rites instituted in his ho- 
" nour 

There are other passages in the same author 
which admit the truth of the system of hero- 
worship ; and I must own, that it always ap- 
peared singular to me, that Saturn, who was, in 
the opinion of Minucius Felix, a king of Crete, 
and the instructor of rude Italy, should have 
been represented, by the same author, as an evil 
spirit afflicting the bodies of men. 

The system of hero-worship has so much 
support from Pagan antiquity, and, at the same 
time, is so necessary for the interpretation of 
many texts in Scripture, that it is not to be light- 

* " Satumum enim, principem hujus generis et 
" cxamlnis, omnes scriptores vetustatis, Graeci Roma- 
<; nique, hominero prodiderunt.— — —ISLitaque Satur- 
44 mis, Creta profugus, Italians, metu nltj ssewientis, 
44 accesserat ; et Jani susccptus- hospitio, rudes illos 

44 homines et agrestes multa docuir. -Homo igitur 

44 ulique qui fugit — et pater hominis, et natus ex ho 
44 mine — Ejus hlius Jupiter Cretae, excluso parente, 
44 regnavit j illic obiit, illic filios habuit. Adhuc 
44 antrum Jovis visitur, et sepuichrum ejus osiendilur, 
44 et ipsis sacris suis human! La tis arguitur," c. xxii. 
The translation of Minucius Felix, which I publish - 
ed in 1781, is here used with some changes of phrase* 
That translation ewes much to the learned persons 
who revised it. The introductory paragraph, in par- 
ticular, far excels any thing that I could have writ- 
ten without assistance. 



116 CHAPTER III. 

ly abandoned. Rather than abandon it, let us- 
grant that Tertullian erred in his narrative, and 
that Minucius Felix contradicted himself. 

Under this head, there occurs another cir- 
cumstance which well deserves our attention. 
From what Tertullian and Minucius Felix have 
recorded, one should be apt to suppose, that 
this expulsion of Saturn and his fellows was ef- 
fected not once only, but on repeated occasions*. 
Now, if the Christians, in the second and third 
centuries, had the power of casting out Saturn, 
is it not strange, that a repetition of the like 
form qf exorcising him, should have again be^ 
come necessary ? 

Although we should grant, that when the. 
patient talked in the character of Saturn, Sera- 
pis, or Jupiter, he was a mere lunatic, and not 
one under the thraldom of an evil spirit, it does 
not follow, that he was net actually cured of a~ 
disease by the intervention of the Christians. 

This circumstance has not been sufficiently 
attended to \ and I make no doubt that there 
are persons who hold the state of the case to. 
be this, " either Saturn, Serapis, or Jupiter, was* 
" expelled from the body of a man, or there was 
" a shameful collusion between the supposed 
" patient and the Christians who pretended to 
" heal him." The former hypothesis might 



CHAPTER III. 117 

stumble many a sincere believer, and the latter 
would be eagerly adopted by infidels. 

But the cure might have been real and mira~ 
:s, although the condition of the patient 
might have been misunderstood. 

The instantaneous restoration of a lunatic to 
sound mind, will be admitted to bear, at least, 
as many marks of a miracle as the instantaneous 
restoration to health of a person afflicted with 
any other known disease, whether acute or 
chronical. 

And thus, although we should suppose, that,, 
in the second and third centuries, certain per- 
sons were said to have had evil spirits ejected 
out of them, while, in truth, they were, with- 
out human means, relieved from a state of lu- 
nacy, it does not follow, that no miraculous 
power was displayed in their cure. 

The hypothesis here suggested will not dimi- 
nish the number of the cures, although it may 
remove some of them from one class into ano- 
ther. 

This leads us to consider " the miraculous 
" power exerted in the healing of diseases*" 
And here it must be repeated, that the number 
of the miracles supposed to have been wrought 
in the second and third centuries, would not be 
diminished, although some of them should have 
been wrought on lunatics, and not on persons 



118 CHAPTER III. 

possessed, For it is no less a miracle to cure lu~ 
nacy, at once, and by no other means but prayer, 
than it is to expel evil spirits. So, if the obser- 
vations just now made have any weight, the re- 
sult will be, that the primitive Christians more 
rarely expelled evil spirits, and more frequently 
cured natural diseases, than they are reported 
to have done. 

Mighty things are said of the poiver of km&r 
gination ; but that it should instantaneously re- 
store lunatics to a sound mind, is something so 
very incredible *, that he who can persur.de 
himself to believe it, will have small cause for 
insulting the Christians on account of their easy 
faith! 

The ecclesiastical writers of the second and 
third centuries invariably assert, that many dis- 
eases were healed by the prayers of the Chri- 
stians. As they often speak on the credit of 
others, and not from their own observation, it 
is possible that, in some of their reports, there 
may be circumstances exaggerated, and even 
mistakes \ and it must be admitted, that their 
evidence loses much of the credibility which it 
would otherwise have had, when they speak of 

* There may, possibly, be some very rare exam- 
ples of this but I speak, as one ought to speak on 
such occasions, of daily experience, and the ordinary 
course of things > 



CHAPTER III. 119 

diseases having been cured, and yet do not men- 
tion by whom or on whom the cures were per- 
formed. 

But they do not always speak in such gene- 
ral terms. Thus, for example, Tertullian enters 
into particulars, when he describes a cure 
wrought by Proculus, a Christian, in the days of 
the Emperor Severus. 

This narrative is curious and interesting, and 
it has been thought worthy of some strictures 
by Mr Gibbon. 

" The Emperor [Severus], says he, was per- 

• suaded that, in a dangerous sickness, he had 
« derived some benefit^ either spiritual or physi- 
" cal, from the holy oil with which one of his 
u slaves had anointed him. He always treated 

* with peculiar distinction several persons of 
u both sexes who had embraced the new reli- 
" gion." Mr Gibbon adds, [?iote 108.] « Dr 
" Jortin, Remarks on ecclesiastical history , v. ii. 
" p. 5. &c. considers the cure of Severus, by 
« means of holy oil, with a strong desire to 
" convert it into a miracle," i. 668. 

This story, related incidentally by Tertul- 
lian *, deserves a more accurate examination 
than either the assertors of the miraculous powers , 



* Ad Scapulaia r -c. 4. 



120 CHAPTER III. 

or their antagonists, have chosen to bestow on 
it * 

For the better understanding of this story, 
we must examine it as connected with the pre- 
ceding part of Tertullian's discourse. The style 
of that writer is, in general, harsh and abrupt, 
and hence his meaning becomes frequently ob- 
scure; yet I hope to make the passage in ques- 
tion intelligible to every unprejudiced reader. 

Tertullian, with a generous and manly spirit, 
censures Scapula, the President of Africa, be- 
cause, contrary to the practice of some former 
magistrates, he had gone beyond the letter of 
the Imperial edict in persecuting the Christians. 
The author adds, " Every thing of this nature 
" might, in duty, be suggested to you by those 
« very pleaders of yours, who, let them make 
" what outcry they will, enjoy benefits confer- 
ee red on them by the Christians : for a cer- 
* c tain person's secretary [or clerk], who had 

f Dr Church could not find room, in a treatise of 
four hundred pages, to say any thing as to this cure j 
and so he left it, 2s he found it, exposed to the 
glosses of Dr Middleton. Neither has Dr Ifodwell 
said much on the subject J and yet both of them 
found room to attempt a vindication of Justin. M. 
for having asserted that the Romans reared an altar 
to Simon Magus ! See Vindication of the miracu- 
lous powers, p. 154. and Free Answer to the Free 
Inquiry, p. 67. 



CHAPTER III. 1^1 

« been thrown headlong by a demon, was set at 
" liberty ; and so also were a kinsman and a lit- 
f« tie boy of other persons. And how many 
« men of rank are there, for I speak not of the 
" lower sort, who have been relieved either 
" from demons or maladies*? Besides, Severus 
« himself, the father of Antoninus, was mind- 
" ful of the Christians : for he sought after 
" Proculus, surnamed Torpaclon^ a Christian, 
« and the steward of Euhoda, [or Euhodus], 
« who had, on a particular occasion, cured him 
" by oil, and he retained him at court as long 
« as he lived. Antoninus, nursed on Christian 
" milk, knew the man well. Severus also, in- 
" stead of doing harm to very distinguished per- 
" sons of both sexes, whom he knew to be of 
" that religion, gave a favourable testimony to 
" them, and even openly set himself against the 
M multitude, when raging against us f." 

* Tertullian undoubtedly meant to have added 
" by the Christians for the context requires that 
addition. 

f " Haec omnia tibi et de officio suggeri possunt, 
" et ab eisdem advocatis, qui et ipsi beneficia habent 
" Chris danorum, licet adclament quae volunt : nam 
" et cujusdam notarius, cum a dcemone praecipitare- 
" tur, liberatus est, et quorundam propinquus, et 
" pueruius. Et quanti honesti viri, de vulgaribus 
" enim non dicimus, aut a damoniis aut a valetudi- 
" nibus remediati sunt ? Ipse etiam Severus, pater 

L ^ 



122 CHAPTER Uti 

-Here the first thing to be inquired is, at what 
time did Tertuilian address this treatise to Sca- 
pula ?. Pamelius says, that it was in the nhith 
year of Severus [A. D. 202,] \ but he gives no 
sufficient reasons for his conjecture. 

Thus much is certain, that it was not before 
the seventh year of Severus [A. D. 200.], when 
that Emperor began to persecute the Christians \ 
nor after the sixteenth year [A. D. 209.], when 
the persecution appears to have been staid * # 

" Antonini Christianorum meraor fuit : nam et 
" Proculum, Christianum, qui Torpacion cognomi- 
" nabatur, Euhodae [Euhodi] procuratorem, qui eurri 
" per oleum aliquando curaverat, requlsivit, et in 
** palatio suo habuit usque ad mortem ejus : quern et 
" Antoninus optime noverat, lacte Christiano educa- 
" tus. Sed et clarissimas fcerninas et clarissimos vi- 
" ros Severus, sciens hujus sectae esse, non modo non 
" laesit, verum et testimonio exornavit, et populo fu- 
" renti in nos in os] palam restitit." Ad Sca- 
pulam, c. 4. 

* It is not improbable, that the persecution began 
somewhat later than is here supposed, and ended, 

in Africa at least, somewhat sooner. Mosheim 

says, [d. Reb. Christ, ante Constantin. M, p. 456. 
457.], that the treatise ad Scapulam, was drawn up 
about the beginning of the reign of Caracalla. Cer- 
tainly it could not have been drawn up at any later 
period : for, towards the conclusion of the treatise, 
Tertuilian speaks of emperors in the plural number : 
u Magistrum neminem habemus, nisi Deum solum 

" cseterum quos putas tibi magistros, homines 

u sunt, et ipsi morituri quandoque." This phrase is 



CHAPTER HI. 123 

We now proceed to examine the import of 
the passage in question. 

Tertullian says, that the pleaders or advocates 
had received benefit by the cures which their 
dependents and relations owed to the Chri- 
stians j and, therefore, that they should have 

applicable to no year of Caracalla but the first, du- 
ring which he reigned in conjunction with his bro- 
ther Geta. It is, however, very unlikely, that Cara- 
calla should have begun his reign by persecuting 
those men whom he suffered to continue in tranquil- 
lity during the remainder of it, Besides, Sulpicius 
Severus reckons the whole years of Caracalla under 
that period, which is commonly called the long peace 
of the church. Perhaps Mosheim founded his opi- 
nion on the words " ipse etiam Severus, pater Anto- 
" nini," as if implying that Severus was then dead : 
Eut the words may mean nothing more than a com- 
pliment to the young Emperor, by distinguish^ g- 
the old Emperor' as the father of Antoninus. There 
are other expressions in this passage calculated to 
gain the favour of Caracalla. If Mosheim founded 
his opinion on the words " et in Palatio suo habuit 
" usque ad mortem ejus" and understood them of 
the death of Severus, and not of Proculus, he surely 
mistook their sense : for, according to his own hy- 
pothesis, the address to Scapula was drawn up in the 
first year of Caracalla, If " usque ad mortem ejus" 
mean " until the death of Severus," Proculus was 
either alive at the time of Tertullian's writing, or 
had died but a few months before. Now T , the phrase 
which follows, " quern et Antoninus optime nove- 
" rat" cannot be applied to one either alive at that 
time, or lately dead. 



CHAPTER III. 

ggested to Scapula the propriety of limiting 
penal edicts to the express letter of the law. 
It is exceedingly probable that, in mentioning 
the cure wrought on the clerk of a certain person, 
fee had a particular man in view, whose name 
he thought fit to conceal, either from motives 
of prudence, or for the purpose of introducing 
a rhetorical innuendo. 

According to the description given by Ter- 
tuilian, the man of whom he speaks had the 
symptoms of an epilepsy. That I may not 
blend one controversy with another, I shall not 
attempt to determine whether the disease pro- 
ceeded from what are called natural causes, or 
from the permitted agency of some malevolent 
spirit. It is enough to say, that the man labour- 
ed under a grievous disease * \ and, so far as we 
may give credit to Tertullian, was cured by the 
interposition of the Christians. The same thing 
may be said as to the other cures here mentioned, 
with this difference only, that as to them, the 
narrative is more general, and that there are no 

* History, from the days of Julius Csesar until 
our own times, informs us, that fits of the epilepsy 
may be mitigated by means of an exact regimen. 
Whether the disease be curable, is a question which 
physicians can best answer. It may, however, be 
presumed, that neither tht jorce of imagination, nor 
natural strength oj constitution , can remove the epi- 
lepsy- 



CHAPTER III. 125 

circumstances in it which so directly allude to 
any individual, as the words " clerk of a certain 
person" do. 

Thus far it is supposed that all my readers 
will agree with me as to the state of the fact. 

Tertullian immediately adds, " Severus him- 
« self was mindful of the Christians." This 
translation, by being literal, falls short of the 
sense of the original. Since it is said, that Se- 
verus, a persecuting Prince, was " Christianorum 
fl memor it may be fairly concluded, that some 
benefit, thought to have been conferred on him- 
self, or on a person in whom he took an inte- 
rest, excited a grateful remembrance, very un- 
like the harsh character of Severus. 

The next thing to be inquired into is, what 
did any Christian perform that could have indu- 
ced such a man as Severus to bestow marks of 
distinguished favour on one Christian, to be 
merciful, by connivance at least, towards many 
others, and, even on some occasions, to stay the 
raging of the people, whom his own edicts had 
animated in the bloody work of persecution ? 

Here also it is supposed that all my readers 
irill admit the question to be fairly stated. 

Examples of the benignity of a Pagan and 
persecuting emperor, when recorded by an ad- 
versary, will, in particular, obtain easy credit 
with those who judge favourably enough of Pa- 

L 3 



126 CHAPTER III. 

gan and persecuting emperors, and not too fa- 
vourably of their adversaries. 

" Severus bestowed peculiar marks of his re- 
« gard on Proculus, a Christian, the steward of 
« Euhodus, who had cured him by oil." This is 
a brief state of what Tertullian says. 

It is generally supposed, and with very great 
probability, that the Euhodus here mentioned, 
was a person much distinguished in the days of 
Severus, and one perfectly well known to Sca- 
pula, and to every reader of the treatise ad- 
dressed by Tertullian to that President. 

We can hardly imagine that Tertullian would 
have described Proculus, surnamed Torpacion y 
by calling him " the steward of Eithoda" of a 
woman altogether obscure, and bearing a ser- 
vile name : but there is much propriety in de- 
scribing- him as " the steward of Euhodus" 

Euhodus, from the slave* of Severus, became 
his freedman, and one of his- chief favourites, 
had the charge of the education Gf Caracalla f, 

* The name of Euhodus was frequently borne 
by slaves and freedmen. See Gruter. Inscript. t. iv. 
p. 181. *, though, indeed, it may be rather termed a 
nickname, or riotn de guerre^ implying good luck ; or 
more appositely in French, It parvenu so ako Eu- 
hoda must have been a servile name, being the femi- 
nine of Euhodus. 

r Mr Gibbon says, that the preceptor of Cara- 
calla was a Christian, vol. i. p. 60S ; but he produces 



CHAPTER III. 



remained in high credit during the life of his 
old master, and was put to death by his pupil*. 

no authority in support of his assertion. He adds, 
" If that young prince ever betrayed a sentiment of 
" humanity, it was occasioned by an incident, which, 
" however trifling, bore some relation to the cause of 
" Christianity." What he alludes to is the passage 
so often quoted from Spartian. u Septennis puer , 
" quum collusorem suum puerum, ob Judaic am reli- 
" gionem gravies verberatum audisset, neque patrem 
" suum neque patrem pueri vel auctores verberum 
" diu respexii/' JEA. Spartian, Antoninus Caracal- 
lus, in princip. I never could understand this pas- 
sage, concerning a play-fellow of Caracalla, who 
was severely whipped on account of the Jewish reli- 
gion , to the great displeasure of that young prince. 
One thing, however, seems plain, that Dr Lardner, 
Teslim. iii. 4. is much mistaken in his conjecture, 
that Judaica refygio means Christianity. Some of 
the earlier Heathen writers may have confounded the 
two religions j but it is impossible that Spartian 
could j for he lived in the days of Constantine the 
Great, ft is singular, indeed, that Mr Gibbon should 
have produced this story as the only proof of Cara- 
calla having ever betrayed a sentiment of humanity. 
For Spartian, in that very page of his work, says, 
that Caracalla, during his earlier years, shewed many 
signs of a good disposition j and that, in particular, 
when criminals were exposed to wild beasts in his 
presence, he turned away his eyes from the specta- 
cle and wept, [" si quando fens objectos damnatcs 
" vidit, flevit, aut oculos avertit."] ^Mr Gibbon has 
overlooked this, and much more, and has confined 
himself to the story of the Jewish boy. 

* Concerning Euhodus, see Dion Cassius, L Ixxv. 
p. S61. 862. 1. Ixxvii. p. 870. edit. Leunclavii. 



128 CHAPTER III. 

But ivJmn did Proculus cure ? was it Seve- 
rus or Euhodus ? 

Dr Middleton says, « Tertullian tells us, that 
Proculus, a Christian, cured the Emperor Seve- 
rus of a certain distemper by " the use of oil." 
He does not deny that the cure was performed, 
but he attempts to account for it from natural 
causes *; 

f Inquiry, p. 16. Dr Middleton manages this ar- 
gument with much controversial skill. - To the nar- 
rative of Tertullian, concerning a fact said to have, 
happened in his own times, and almost under his 
eyes, he joins the narrative of Jerom concerning a 
fact said to have happened in a remote country be- 
fore Jerom was born ; and having thus joined the 
two stories, he takes it for granted that they must 
stand or fall together. " St Jerom (says he) affirms,. 
" that Hiiarion, the Monk, used to heal all the 
" vjounds of the husbandmen and shepherds with 

" 'consecrated oil. These cures, \t true, might be 

" accounted for probably without a miracle, by the 
" natural power and efficacy of the oil itself ; since, 
" in our days, the bite of vipers, after inflaming a 
& man's arm to a degree which threatened destruc- 
" tion to him, is known to have been checked and 
" cured in a short time by the application of oil, 
" which might perhaps have been the very case of 
" Hilarious shepherds." 

This perhaps is incomparable : for, in the passage- 
alluded to, Jerom says expressly, that the shepherds 
whom HJlarion cured, " had been smitten by ser- 
" pents and other venomous animals.'" Jerom rela- 
ted the circumstances of the fact fairly, though, pos- 
sibly, his conclusion from them was erroneous. Dr 



CHAPTER III. 129 

Mr Gibbon steps beyond Dr Middleton's 
conjecture, and supposes that there was no cure 
at all j but that Severus just persuaded himself 
that he got some benefit by oil with which one of- 
his slaves anointed him # . Nay more, Mr Gib- 

Middleton omitted those circumstances, and then 
produced them as a conjecture of his own. The pas- 
sage, which he has curtailed, runs thus : " Ecce si- 
" tiens arenosaque regio, postquam pluviis irrigata 
" est, tantam [/. tantaj serpen turn ei venenatorum 
u animalium ebullivit multitudinem [/. multitudine^ 
" ut percussi innumerabiles, nisi ad Hilarionem cu- 
** currissent, statim interirent. Benedicto itaque 
" oleo universi agricolae atque pastores tangentes yuI- 
" nera, certam certatim] salutem resumebant." 
Vita Hilarion. c. 27. Dr Middleton, on the autho- 
rity of Jerom, has extended the cure to all wounds, 
while Jerom himself limits it to the cure of wounds 
inflicted by the bite or stings of venomous animals. 

■It is not certain that the words " benedicto oleo" 
ought to be rendered, " with consecrated oil," in 
the common acceptation of the phrase. It rather 
seems to mean, " with oil on which Plilarion had 
prayed for a blessing." Men no less free from su- 
perstitious fancies than Dr Middleton ever was, pray 
tor a blessing on medicines administered. " Mensa 
" benedicta," in the language of Jeronvs age, is " a 
" table at which grace has been said," and " cibus 
" benedictus" is " food for which a blessing has been 
" asked," not " a consecrated table," or " consecra- 
ted food." 

* It is impossible to discover the source of this 
anecdote. Tertullian says no such thing ; and he is 
equally silent as to some benefit, perhaps of a spiri- 
tual nature, which Severus persuaded himself that 



ISO CHAPTER III. 

bon leaves it uncertain, whether this benefit, 
however small or ambiguous, was of a spiritual 
nature $ or something which merely respected 
the health of the patient. 

Notwithstanding the authority of Dr Mid- 
dleton, Mr Gibbon, and many other writers, I 
incline to think that the cure was wrought, or 
supposed to have been wrought, on Euhodus, 
and not on Severus 5 and that Severus having 
heard of the relief which his favourite had ob- 
tained, sought after Proculus, and kept him 
about his person. 

The words in Tertullian may as well imply, 
that Proculus cured Euhodus, as that he cured 
Severus. 

When the phrase « Proculum requisivit' 7 is 
considered, it seems inconsistent with the notion 
of Proculus having cured Severus himself. The 
Emperor, had he been cured by oil which Pro- 
culus administered, would have had no occasion 
to seek after or inquire for his physician. 

It is probable that hitherto my readers, in ge- 
neral, will see no great cause to controvert the 

he had received from the anointing with oil. Indeed, 
he says, which Mr Gibbon has overlooked, that, in 
the times of Severus, eminent persons of both sexes 
professed the Christian religion, but he makes no- 
mention of Proculus as a Christian slave. 



CHAPTER III. 131 

facts and circumstances which I have endea- 
voured to establish. 

But now there occurs an observation, which, 
if well founded, might supersede all further in- 
quiry into the nature of the cure wrought by 
Pro cuius. 

One of the writers in the controversy con- 
cerning The miraculous powers, thus speaks : 
" Tertullian, who relates the story, makes no 
« mention at all of a miracle in the case. His 
" words are these : A Christian named Proculus, 
« cured the Emperor Severus of a certain distent- 
" per by the use of oil ; for which service the Em- 
" peror was favourable to the Christians, and kept 

Proculus, as long as he lived, in his palace % 

If Tertullian, who lived at the time when 
the cure was performed, made no mention at all 
of a miracle, it would be preposterous for us, in 
the eighteenth century, to attempt to discover 
more in the story than this, that Proculus cured 
Euhodus or Severus by oil. 

It appears, however, from the context, al- 
though not from Dr Middleton's quotation, that 
Tertullian supposed that the cure by oil, and 
the cures of the epilepsy and other diseases 
which he mentions, were all of the same na- 

* Defence of Dr Middleton's Free Inquiry, by 
Frederick Toll, A. M. p. 98. 



132 CHAPTER III. 

ture, the operation of God through the ministry 
of the Christians. 

We learn from the work of Serenus Sammo- 
nicus*, a celebrated physician at the court of 
Severus, that oil of various sorts was much used 
in the Recipes of those days. Oil indeed ap- 
pears to have been at that time the popular and 
fashionable medicine \ and therefore it would 
have been trifling in Tertullian, to have said that 
Proculus cured Euhodus with a medicine gene- 
rally used. 

The sense of the author seems to be altoge- 
ther different. When the sacred historian says, 
that the Apostles "anointed with oil many that 
were sick, and healed them," Mark vi. 13. he 

* Q. Sereni Sammonici de Medicina liber. — — 
H. Stephan. d. Med. princ. confounds him with his 
son, who was preceptor to the younger Gordian, and 
who left in legacy to his pupil a liorary of sixty- two 
thousand volumes, Jul. Capitolin. Gordianus junior, 
p. 159. that very library of which Mr Gibbon thus 
speaks, " Twenty-! wo concubines, and a library of 
" six'y-fwo thousand volumes, attested the variety of 
" his inclinations \ and from the productions which 
« he left behind him, it appears that the former as 
" well as the latter were designed for use rather 
" thin for ostentation," vol. i. p. 215. Pity that 
Gordian had not collected four thousand volumes in 
addition to the legacy j then it might have been 
said, that for every three thousand of volumes in his 
library, he had one concubine and three bastards, and 
the antithesis would have been complete. 



CHAPTER III. 135 

surely does not mean that it was the oil which 
healed the sick ; but he means that the Apo- 
stles, in working the cure, used oil as a symbol 
of the authority of Christ, the spiritual sove- 
reign, by whose commission, and in whose name 
they acted. 

Had Tertullian said, " Proculus anointed with 
« oil Euhodus, who was sick, and healed him," 
we should have concluded immediately, that, by 
using the words of the evangelist, he meant to 
refer to the evangelical history, and that he sup- 
posed the cure to be miraculous. But the con- 
text being considered, it should seem that Ter- 
tullian has expressed himself in words equiva- 
valent to those used by St Mark *. 

* The reader will judge whether the words " per 
oleum" do not mean " by the oil j" the idiom of 
the Latin language is such, that a periphrasis is ne- 
cessary for conveying a sense corresponding to these 
words " the oil." Hence modem writers in Latin 
would, in such case, have prefixed the Greek article 
thus : " per to oleum." 

It is more likely that, in the cure of Euhodus, 
Proculus imitated the practice of the apostles, Mark 
vi. 13. than that he meant to act in conformity to the 
directions given by St James, v. 14. : for that which 
St James directs to be done appears limited to the 
case of believers. " Is any sick anion? you, let him 
" send for the etders of the church," &c. [xcrkm rt$ 

Besides, there is no reason to suppose that Proculus 
was a presbyter ; for the office of presbyter, in the 

M 



IS4< CHAPTER III. 

It remains for us to ascertain, as nearly as 
possible, the time at which this cure was 
wrought. 

Euhodus, the slave, and afterwards the freed- 
man of Severus, must have owed to his patron 
that wealth which obliged or enabled him to 
maintain Proculus as his steward or intendant. 

The fortune of Euhodus must have been ac- 
quired during the reign of Severus, and not be- 
fore it. 

We learn from Spartian, that Severus, born 
in a state of mediocrity, lived in a frugal man- 
ner, and perhaps affectedly, after the old Ro- 
man fashion. Although he had governed Sici- 
ly and Pannonia with proconsular powers, and 
had even borne the office of consul, he conti- 
nued to reside in a small and inconvenient 
dwelling at Rome, and was proprietor of no 
more than a single farm. It was not till about 
the last years of Commodus, that he purchased 
a larger house, with gardens, according to the 
fashion of that age # . At the time of his ele- 

second century, could hardly have been compatible 
with that of steward or intendant to Euhodus. 

* " Consulatum cum Apuleio Ruffino primum egit 
—post consulatum anno ferme fuit Romse otiosus : 
deinde — exercitui Germanico [leg. Pannonico] prse- 
" ponitur. Proficiscens — hortos spatiosos compara- 
" vit, quu?n antea cedes brtvissimcs Romce babuisset, 
" et unum fundum" JEl. Spartian, Severus, p. 65. 



CHAPTER III. 135 

vation to sovereign power he was in debt, con- 
tracted, probably, with a view to the accomplish- 
ing of his. ambitious purposes *« 

Severus, having been proclaimed Emperor, 
underwent great toils and much danger before 
he could establish himself on the Imperial 
throne. 

Every one who has carefully perused the his- 
tories of Dion Cassius, Spartian, and Herodian, 
will admit that Severus could not have had lei- 
sure or opportunity to bestow considerable do- 
natives on a freedman, until the fourth year of 
his reign. 

Hence it may be concluded, that Proculus 
could not have been the administrator of the 
rents and issues of such donatives sooner than 
the fourth year of Severus and that the cure 
wrought by him on Euhodus could not, in the 
probability of human events, have happened at 
an earlier period. 

W e have formerly seen, that it was in the 

* " Dehinc ses alienum dissolvlt. TEA. Spartian, 
p. 67. Salmasius, struck with the rage of emenda- 
tion, perverted the text, and made Spartian say, that 
Severus discharged, not his own debts, but the debts 
of his friends ; Not. ad Spartian, p. 136. whereas 
Spartian meant to extol the integrity of the Emperor, 
in making payments which none of his creditors 
durst or could have exacted. 



136 CHAPTER III. 

sixteenth year of Severus, at the latest, that Ter- 
tullian, addressing himself to Scapula, the Afri- 
can governor, spake of the cure wrought by 
Proculus, a Christian. 

Thus the event which Tertullian relates, must 
have happened within twelve years of the time 
at which he related it. 

There was a constant intercourse between 
Carthage, where Tertullian resided, and the ca- 
pital ; and we may well affirm, that any thing 
singular occurring at Rome would have been 
known at Carthage as soon as, in our own days, 
any thing singular occurring at London would 
be known at Hamburg or Bourdeaux. 

Besides, Pamelius, vita TertulL has proved 
that Tertullian was at Rome in the ninth year 
of Severus, when he exhibited his triumph over 
the Parthians, that is, within five years of the 
time at which, by the calculation already men- 
tioned, Proculus wrought the cure of Euho- 
dus, 

So much for Tertullian, who wrote about the 
beginning of the third century. What was the 
state of v the miraculous powers in a few years 
after the time of Tertullian, will be best known 
from the writings of Origen. 

In various passages of his treatise against 
Celsus, he has made mention of such miraculous 



CHAPTER III. 137 

powers, as, according to his account, existed in 
the earlier part of the third century. 

Thus, he says : " But we, should Celsus deem 
« it to be proper, are ready to point out an un- 
" speakable multitude of Greeks as well as 
« Barbarians, who acknowledge Jesus ; and 
" some of them, by the cures which they per- 
" form, shew r how a certain supernatural power 
" is received through that faith. The only 
" means which they employ, in behalf of those 
u who need healing, are, to invoke God over 
" all, and the name of Jesus, and to read a por- 
" tion of evangelical history. For, after this 
" manner, %ve also have seen many persons relie- 
fs ved from grievous diseases, from disorders of 
" the judgment, from madness^ and various 
" other maladies, which neither men ncr de- 
M mons could have cured*." 

* *Huu$ yx?, u txt6 cusvdv vtu.^a, stagysj; ernci-jim 

UUVc/iTOV Ti 7r?.-/;Go$ HW'WXV ti KUi £sce*XC&i' exzoXoy^vraj 
TV In?*' Tl'Ji; T£ fflU&UX T& UXnfi9*l Ti 6>X TW TTi <zt V TCt'J- 

xXXo KZXX'J7t$ i7Ti TSJ iiOUiV&S S-'S'ZTziZ?. Y, TOy zTTl 7TX5i 
QiOV. XXI TO ijJ«T8 O^OUX. iliTX TY,$ TTc^t XV7X i^C^iX^' 

txtoi; y«g KAI HMEI2 EG PA K A MEN ttoXXxs xttxX- 
XxyivTxg y^xXiTraiv <7V{1~t&i.<,xt&v, kx( zxrx?z&v kxi [4.xvimv, 
Kxt aXX&v uygtssiv, xTio avT xiQ^mroi are ^xiuovig i^ipol- 
ttcvo-xv. Contra Celsuin, 1. iii. p. 124. edit. Spencer* 
Origen uses %otte7rm s-vuTT^xT^y, [bad symptoms, 

M 3 



138 CHAPTER III. 

It should seem that, in the fair construction 
of words, this imports, that Origen had been an 
eye-witness to the wonderful cures which he 
describes and, if any Christian witness can be 
admitted at all, it will be difficult to point out 
one of more credibility than Origen. 

To the same purpose, although with more 
brevity, he elsewhere speaks : " It is observa- 
" ble, that, after the time at which Jesus so- 
« journed upon earth, the Jews became altoge- 
« ther deserted ; and that they retained no lon- 
« ger any of the things which of old were held 
« in high estimation amongst them. There is 
" no sign left of some divinity residing with 
" them no more prophets or miracles. Of 
« these, however, after so long a period, the 
« vestiges are still to be found amongst Chri- 
« stians, and some of them considerable too : 
" and, 'if my testimony be admitted as credible ', 1 
« myself have seen them 

des accidents jacheux\ for " dangerous diseases 

translated " disorder of the judgment," im- 
plies " any suspension of the rational faculties." 

vav avTcts tt vet i cra&vo*y. caXXcc koli y~wiv (rvtt&uov r% uvea t<- 

VCt, SstOTV'TX 7T*£ OLVTOiq. %>C ITt 7C £0$ Ytf CfA , TS£Uft06, 

Contra Celsum, 1. ii. p. 62. In the same book, p. 80. 



CHAPTER III. 139 

Another passage in the same work, is re- 
markable on many accounts. Origen says, " I 
« am of opinion that the miracles of Jesus,. 
" which Celsus calumniously says he learnt 
" among the Egyptians to perform, afford evi- 
" dence of the Holy Spirit having appeared in 
" the likeness of a dove and, in support of 
" my opinion, I argue not only from them, but 
« also, with probable grounds, from those which 
« the Apostles of Jesus performed. And in- 
" deed, without the operation of miracles, the 
« Apostles could not have moved. men, who 
* had new notions and new doctrines proposed 
« to them, to abandon the religious rites of 
" their country,, and, with hazards even unto 
" death, to admit what those teachers taught : 
" and Hill the vestiges of that Holy Spirit, 
" which appeared in the likeness of a dove, 
" are preserved among Christians \ for they ex- 
" pel* demons, and perform many cures \ and, 

he speaks, in general terms, of persons having been 
healed in the name of Christ : i*z%%t o-yi^ov Sz^ctTnv- 

* The word txpel is used, although not a proper 
translation of i%pz*3ig(ri. The verb tf^ecpui, however 
uncommon, is classical. Origen, on this occasion, 
has been more studious of the purity of his Greek, 
than of correctness in theological language. He 
ought not to have spoken of charms or, rather, if 
the word may be admitted, of decantations. 



140 CHAPTER III. 

" as the word [Aoros] willeth, they foresee 
u some things : and, however much Celsus, or 
" the Jew whom he has introduced, may scoff 
(( at it, tins shall be said, that many persons 
w have been converted to Christianity, as if 
" against their will, through some inspiration, 
u acting with energy upon them in visions or in 
" dreams, which suddenly changed their mind 
U from hatred of the word to a willingness of 
" dying for it. Indeed many instances of this 
" nature have come within my own knowledge., 
" and were I to commit to writing those at 
" which I was present, and an eye-witness, it 
" would lay me open to the derision of unbe- 
" lievers * j and they would suppose me to feign 
u stories just as they suppose others to do : yet 
« God and my own conscience are witnesses 
** that my intention is, not by fictitious narra- 
" tives, but by variety of authentic evidence, to 
16 establish the divine doctrine of Jesus f /* 

gen complains of w the broad grin of infidelity.*' 
But M the simper of infidelity " is much more intoler- 
able j for ridicule cannot silence, and argument can- 
not confute a simpering infidel. 

SFigJjTSg*?, vt*o tz lr t <j% 7Tx?zg*zx yayi'^uivx' kr^x 
ZxXXwj KeAroc, Qtnv xvtov 7rxp Aiyvmri»i$ petMikpi&r* 
7ri7rctrjx,ivxi. KXi mk iKitvoig ys uovdg yj^r^fuu* u>0\x Y^fr 
kxtx to uko$, Kdi its it Aifw?m ry lw* TSTe/JJfctfCW • 



CHAPTER III. 141 

In this passage, the testimony of Origen is 
unambiguous, so far as it goes, with respect to 
the healing of diseases. It must* however, be 
acknowledged, that Origen does not here, as in 
the passages formerly quoted, state himself as 
an eye-witness of the cures which he relates. 
But this seems of little moment ; for no one 
but a captious reader will require that an author, 
who has repeated occasions of mentioning the 
same subject, should always treat it with the 
same degree of precision. 

So far as I have been able to discover, there 
is no passage of Origen, in which he asserts 

ctv yxg iuvatusm kxi 7r&Pxot>%av utivxv r%q x.ctiv&}) Atf- 

ywv y-xt Kfitim (axHuxtw *.x.&orrcc$ srgo; to kxtuXitthv 

ftlV TSt TTCtTPtX, ?TX£CiQiZx78%t ?g, fA-TX XIVG'JVMV r&v l&iX>*i 
SxiXTX, TCt /U,X$/,UXTX' XXI ST/ r/J'ti TH xyi% t*?iVH 

•JTHVftmTOSi oZ&lVTOc iV ii^ii Tffgi&gCCS, TCtSX XsifiZVOig CttZ*- 

Tctt. ^iTTxdVFt Sx^ucvx;, Kcti iroXXxg iciriig ZviTiXxri. xxi 
$g0)7l Wit, KCiTdt TO SnXr.UZ TX Ai'/«, 7TIPI {LsXXCTsJV. xxv 

%kivoi<n\ 01 KsXrc; to Xi yj?,7t,uivcv, >j, cy iiTr.yxyiv, ln^Xicg' 

OfA.OJg XiXi£i7X! } OTl TTOXXOi, V7771PII GL'/tOVTlg , 07iXY l Xv§CZ7l 

XgtftoiVKruM. Trvivfietrog Ti)>og t py^xvrog uvtc-jv to iytuov- 
xov ezfQvidiov x7f'o 7% jiit<r&v tov Xo/cv &rt to y&paftdjS.iih 
ecvT'ri xsii <p2tn7oi<rix7(£.vT6$ xvJ'd;, vttxp Yj ovot^, tto?.Xx yap 
kxi raxvTX s<70p:',7cic,iy' u nm Bfc* ypxfympA*^ XVT01 XVTCtg 
TTX^XTVfcOV'tlg XXI idovrzg, ylXonsL ttXsctvv CpXr^O.Ui'J TOig 
ctTifoi; oioicivoig y,uxg cuei&g cig VTroXa-fdaei v%7t txvt xvx- 

7Tl777^XXiVXi, Kill XVTdg 7rXX77HM" XXXct yXP GrSJ U:4£TV; 

ta vyATtPH fvf&$4t*£i fixXeusm a ctix '^ivp&iv x7tc>.yyiXiCM, 
ccXXx Tivo$ svx^yuxg 7rotx.iXr,s ativifxv&iy tw Iwa Sitciy 

0u$u<rxx.Xixj. Contra Celsuin, L i. p. 34. 35. edit, 
Spencer. 



142 CHAPTER III. 

himself to have been present at the expelling of 
any demon. The accuracy with which he dis- 
criminates between what he believed on the re- 
port of others, and what he believed on the 
testimony of his own senses, is remarkable, and 
it adds to the credibility of his evidence. 

I have said, that in the passage last quoted, 
*■ Origen does not state himself as an eye-wit- 
" ness of the cures which he relates §" because 
what he observes of sudden conversions to the 
Christian faith, has no relation to any miracu- 
lous powers subsisting in the church \ it relates 
to a matter altogether different, to the means 
which it may please God to use in bringing 
men to the belief of Christianity and here, I 
presume, there will be no controversy : for whe- 
ther we should hold, that he withdrew from 
his servants the power of working miracles at 
an earlier or at a later period, still " the hand 
" of the Almighty is not shortened." 

One more passage from the works of Origen 
shall be produced : although expressed in gene- 
ral terms, it is connected with what has been 
already quoted of the works of that author. 
" Signs of the Holy Spirit were shewn when 
" Jesus began to teach, more numerous after 
« his ascension, and in succeeding times less 
« numerous. But even at this day, there are 
" traces of it in a few men, who have had their 



-CHAPTER III. 14S 

w souls cleansed by the Word, and a corres- 
« ponding behaviour # ." 

Eusebius began to write about fifty years 
after the death of Origen ; and, according to 
his account, evil spirits were wont to be expel- 
led even in those times f . But I have not been 
able to discover that Eusebius speaks of himself 
as an eye-witness of such facts. 

In another passage he observes, that " the 
" evidences of divinity in Jesus Christ, are 
" tried and proved among us even by other 
" glaring matters of fact, exceeding all power 
* of words, where our Lord himself, even at 
« this day, is wont to manifest some portions 
<« of his power, though but small, in those 

whom he thinks proper for it J." 

* §s kyn& Wzvpcirog xmt ug%ccg fA.iv rv,g 

;*yvro, vs"Sgov ?s iXarrovcc. ss*Aj3* xxi vvv in lyjYi i?iv ccvra 

oXiyOlS, TC,S ^VftCtg TO) Xcyu) KCU 70Uq KCCT UVTOV 

vr$a,%m K&m&ag&irots. Contra Celsum, 1. vii. p. 337. 

f Euseb. Demonst. Evangel. 1. iii. p. 91. edit. 
Stephani. 

Kctt vvv, Gig uv K^iymv ptiL^ot, rivx Tyg civtx *hv\cLf*wg 
7rci£C6(pc6tviiy wafo. Euseb. Demonst. Evangel. 1. iii. 
p. 71. I have used the version of Dr Chapman, 
Notes on the Charge, p. 57. omitting, however, his 
gloss, " small, comparatively as not warranted by 
the text. 



144 CHAPTER Ul> 

These expressions are so general, that we 
cannot, with certainty, determine, whether they 
relate to the expulsion of evil spirits, the seeing 
of visions, or the curing of diseases. 

It should seem that, in the days of Eusebius, 
there were fewer pretensions to miraculous gifts 
and powers among the Christians than there 
were in the days of Origen. 

Eusebius, as an eye-witness, has pathetically 
described the long and grievous persecution of 
the Christians in Palestine \ yet he speaks not 
of any miracle ever wrought by any of those 
Martyrs and he does not speak even of visions 
seen, or of prophecies uttered by them *. 

* Concerning Polycarp the church in Smyrna 
thus speaks : " While he prayed, three days before 
" he was apprehended, he beheld, in a vision, his 
<4 pillow consumed by flames j and turning to those 
" who were with him, hesaid, n the spit it of proph cy\ 
" It behoves me to be burnt alive." — —He was one 
" endued with the spirt' of prophecy ; for every 
" word which he uttered has already been, or will be 
** hereafter fulfilled." Remains of Christian Anti- 
quity, vol. i. p. 7. p. 20. 

And to the same purpose, the churches of Lyons 
and Vienne speak of Alexander, a martyr from 
Phrygia. " He was universally known for his love 
u towards God, and his boldness in proclaiming the 
4 ' Word \ and he w as not without, a f*i r io n of 
apostolical grace" ib. p. 5*. : and the same churches 
speak of a revelation made to Attains, another 
martyr, ib. p. 68. 



CHAPTER in. 145 
Virtuous friendship for the sufferers, and 
zeal for the cause in which they suffered, might 
have led Eusebius, on slight evidence, to give 
some degree of credit to popular rumours, had 
there been any such, tending to increase the 
fame of the Martyrs ; yet nothing of that na- 
ture is to be found in his work ; and this is the 
more remarkable, because at that time there 
prevailed an opinion among the Christians in 
Palestine, that Providence interposed, by signs 

Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria, treating of the 
Decian persecution, says, " I declare before God, 
and he knows that I lie not, never did I of my 
" own accord, and without a divine impulse, \jsk 
u take Might." Euseb. Hist.Eccles. l.vi. c.40. 

Fructucsus, Bishop of Tarracona in Spain, when 
about to be burnt alive, " through ihe admonition of 
** the Hoiy Spirit thus spake : There w r ill not be 
u wanting a pastor among you : for the loving 
" kindness of the Lord shall never fail \ and that 
* 8 which ye now behold, seemeth but as the tribula- 
" tion of one hour." Remains of Christian Anti- 
quity, vol. ii. p. 42. 

It was j ores hewn to Cyprian, that he should be 
taken into custody, and beheaded. Remains of Chris- 
tian Antiquity, vol. ii. p. 29. 112. 

I do not pretend to determine any thing as to the 
nature of the visions and prophetical gifts mentioned 
in this note : my only purpose is to contrast the 
particulars related of former martyrs with the nar- 
rative of Eusebius concerning the Martyrs of Pa- 
lestine* 

N 



146 CHAPTER in. 

and wonders, to confer an awful dignity on the 
sufferings and death of the Martyrs. 

To this purpose Eusebius speaks, " I doubt 
4> ' not that the things which ensued will appear 

incredible to every one, excepting eye-witnes- 
" ses j yet must I needs record them j and this 
44 the rather, because almost the whole inhabi- 
" tants of Caesar ea, young and old, beheld the 

astonishing sight." 

4 4 When the Heathens imagined that they 
4< had sunk this holy and most blessed youth in 
4t the unfathomable deep, at once there arose a 
« mighty noise - 9 and the sea and the air were 
« agitated ; and the whole city of Caesarea, and 
« the neighbouring country, trembled \ and, at 
< c this sudden and strange event, the sea, as if 
« unable to bear the corpse of the divine martyr, 
« cast it out before the gates of the city *."" 

And again, " There ensued this wonderful 
4 event : While the sky was pure and bright, 
4< and an universal serenity prevailed in the fir- 

mament, on a sudden, most of the pillars 
44 which upheld the porticoes in the city, sent 
46 forth drops resembling tears ; and, notwith- 
i{ standing there had been no dew from the air, 
4< the market-places and the streets became wet, 
Ci I know not how, as if besprinkled with water : 



* Mart. Palest, civ. 



CHAPTER III. 1*47 

** and forthwith it was a saying repeated among 
" all 3 that the earth wept in this inexplicable 
i; manner, as if it could not brook such impiety ; 
4< and that, to the reproach of men inexorable 
" and void of sympathy, stones and inanimate 
*' matter mourned for the deeds which were 
" done." 

4 * This relation, I doubt not, will be viewed 
4< in the light of a vain and idle tale by those 
u who come after us, but not so by cur con- 
u temporaries, to whom the recentness of the 
*' event vouches its reality 

It was no prodigy, that a dead body, sunk 
in the sea without any weights fixed to it, 
should have been thrown on shore by a violent 
gust of wind or that, while the sky seemed 
clear and serene, the air should have proved 
moist, and the ground become damp f ; and 
yet we see what impression such incidents made 
on the minds of the inhabitants of Palestine in 
general, and even on Eusebius, a person not so 
credulous as some authors have supposed him 

* Mart. Palest, c. ix. 
f This subject is examined at greater length in 
Remains of Christian Antiquity, vol. iii. p. 29. — 31. 
and p. 63.-67. 

% For example, Dr Middleton observes, that 
Eusebius [Hist. Eccles. vi. 9.] makes mention of a 
miracle which Narcissus, Bishop of Jerusalem, 
wrought, by converting water into oil, for the pur- 



CHAPTER HI. 



and therefore we may conclude, that if, during 
the course of a persecution of eight years, any 

pose of supplying the church lamps on Easter eve. 
Inquiry, p. 127. The Doctor adds, " of which oil, 
" as Eusehius says, several small quantities were 
g< preserved, by great numbers of the faithful, to his 
" time, which was about an hundred years after the 
u date of the miracle." 

Here we may, in charity r presume, that Dr 
Middleton has been led^ into an error by not at- 
tending to the construction of a loxg period in Eu- 
sebius. The sense of the whole period depends on 
the word <£>«<ri, which is placed at the beginning of 
it. Eusebius, instead of saying any thing on his own 
authority, or from his own belief, only says that 
men re/tort such and such circumstances. The 
historian himself appears to have been peculiarly at- 
tentive to make this important distinction : in order 
to mark the difference between his ovjn assertion 
and the assertion of others, he multiplies words 
nearly synonymous [uvwovzvxo-t, kc^vi. (pan.'] 

To prevent any mistake, Valesius, in his version, 
took the liberty of repeating a translation of the 
word <p#*7, although but once mentioned in the 
original. 

Notwithstanding all this precaution, Dr Middle- 
ton, when quoting the Greek of Eusehius, over- 
looked the unlucky word (part, once used by the 
historian, and the same w r ord twice translated by his 
interpreter \ and hence he has produced the follow- 
ing maimed and imperfect sentence, [tt«£# 7rXo^otg 

^tlytiU T« TOTi S-&VU0CT0S <PvXM%ftltimU~\ 

Eusebius mentions the story as a tradition, s« 
Tr&^oLOoeioH; to)* kutca $fccti6%'/}v cchx$vvj " 7 but there IS 
no cause for supposing that he, himself believed it* 



CHAPTER III. 



149 



of the Martyrs in Palestine had wrought mira- 
cles, or seen visions, or uttered prophecies, 

Many authors, in relating matters of dubious credit, 
use a like preamble ; " there is a tradition," " it is 
" reported,'" or, " they say." How hard the state 
of such authors, were they to be held as vouchers 
for the truth of every such tradition, report, and 
story, and then, on that account, to be vilified and 
insulted ! 

Upon the authority of others, Eusebius often re- 
lates things which he either doubted or disbelieved j 
and there are who think, that he might, with better 
judgement, have omitted such things altogether. 
But if he had omitted them, and if other books, 
containing those stories of dubious credit, had been 
saved from the wreck of time, then we should have 
heard, " that Eusebius industriously omitted every 
u circumstance tending to shew the fictions of some 
M of the primitive Christians, and the credulity ot 
" others." 

To turn water into oil, for supplying the church- 
lamps on Easter-eve, would have been a miracle 
nc* foretold by our Lord \ neither would it have 
established the truth of his divine mission : at the 
same time it might have served to foster supersti- 
tious prejudices in those weak Christians who appear 
to have dreaded, as an unlucky omen, the extinction 
of the lamps at that season. 

A miracle not foretold, bearing no signs of any 
useful tendency, and capable of producing dangerous 
consequences, ought not to be credited on a tradi- 
tionary say ; and this more especially in the present 
case \ for what is said to have been done once by 
Narcissus, is said to have been done often under the 
administration of Jesuit missionaries in the East In- 
dies. Amongst the Epigrammota Sacra of Igna- 

N 3 



150 CHAPTER III* 

Eusebius would not have passed them over In 
silence. 

Christianity was established by law not many 
years after that persecution. Then, indeed, 
a new and a very different scene opened, of 
which something will be said hereafter. 

Mr Gibbon concludes his observations on the 
third secondary cause of the rapid progress of 
Christianity, by stating certain difficulties, which 
deserve our attention. 

His first difficulty is expressed in the fol- 
lowing words : " Every age bears testimony to 
44 the wonderful events by which it was dis- 
44 tinguished, and its testimony appears no less 
" weighty and respectable than that of the pre- 
w ceding generation, till we are insensibly led 
u on to accuse our own inconsistency, if, in the 
4< eighth or in the twelfth century, we deny to 
44 the venerable Bede or the holy Bernard the 
" same degree of confidence which, in the 
41 second century, we had so liberally granted 
4i to Justin and Xrenceus 

tins Dickerus, 2. 62. this title occurs, " Lampades 
u S. F ancisco Xaverio, apud Indos accensse, fre- 
? quenter sola aqua nutriuntur." Narcissus eked 
out his oil with water ; but, in more modern times, 
pure water served every purpose of oil. 

* To this there is subjoined a query, [note 81.] 
" In the long series of ecclesiastical history, does 
" there exist a single instance of a saint asserting 
" that he himself possessed the gift of miracles ?" 



CHAPTER III. 151 

If, all circumstances considered, what Bede 
relates of Cuthuert, and Bernard of Malachi, 

If, under the phrase, " ecclesiastical history," the 
history of the New Testament be comprehended, 
every one acquainted with the Scriptures can de- 
cidedly answer this acute query in the affirmative. 

Mr Gibbon, probaoly, meant to except the apos- 
tolical times from this query j but as his words aie 
wide enough to comprehend them also, it may be 
fit to observe, that St Matthew asserts, that " he 
° himself possessed the gift of miracles }" for he 
thus speaks : " And when he had called unto him 
6 S his twelve disciples, oe %ane them po>r,er over un- 
" clean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all 
" manner of sickness, and all manner of disease y* 
chap. x. 1. Here he asserts that Jesus bestowed the 
gift of miracles on the twelve Apostles ; and pre- 
sently after, while recounting their names, he men- 
tions himself as one of that chosen number; so he 
must have possessed that gift of miracles which Je- 
sas best Dived on him. 

Again, St Paul positively asserts, that " he him- 
self possessed the gift of miracles for he thus 
speaks : " I am become a fool in glorying, ye have 
" compelled me : for I ought to have been com- 
u mended of you j for in nothing am I behind the 
" very cniefest Apostles, though I be nothing. 
*' Truly the signs of an Apostle were wrought 
" among you in all patience, in signs] and wonders, 
" and eighty deeds 2 Cor. xii. 21. 12. Mr An- 
thony Collins is reported to have said, " I think so 

well of St Paul, who was both a man of sense and 
" a gentleman, that if he had asserted that he had 

wrought miracles himself, I would have believed 
44 himy" Biographia Britannica, v. i. p. 626. not. G, 
2d edit. This anecdote, if authentic, proves, that 



152 CHAPTER III. 

be no less credible than what Justin M. * and 
Irenseus relate of miraculous powers in their 
own times, we ought not to deny them the 
same degree of confidence. But, before coming 
to that conclusion, it is fit that we should make 
ourselves acquainted with the nature of the 
stories related by Bede and Bernard. 

Bede relates the following stories of Cuth- 
bert. He had sown some corn, and when it 
sprung up, and was in the ear, birds began to 
peck at it. He thus mildly addressed the birds : 
u Why are ye so unjust, as to reap Where ye 

did not sow ? Are ye poorer than I am ? If 
* 4 ye have a commission from Heaven to plun- 
4< der me, I submit ; but if not, leave my terri- 
" tory." The birds immediately flew away, 
and never returned. Some crows who, pro- 
bably, had not been present at Cuthbert's re- 
Mr Collins, although one of the shrewdest adver- 
saries of Christianity, had read the epistles of St 
Paul with little attention. The gift of miracles, of 
which I have been speaking, must be distinguished 
from the other divine gifts bestowed on the Apostles, 
and frequently alluded to by them : as in 1 Pet. L 12. i 
John vii. 39.5 xx. 22. y Apoc. i. 10. &c. , lCor.xiv. 
18. - 7 2 Cor. vi. 6. 7. j and in many other passages. 

* Justin M. is mentioned here, because Mr Gib- 
bon mentions him j yet there is hardly any thing in 
the works of Justin M. which relates to a power of 
working miracles bestowed on any individual in the 
Christian church. 



CHAPTER III. 153 

monstrance, plucked straw out of the thatch of 
his monastery, in order to make their nests ; 
Cuthbert pronounced sentence of perpetual 
banishment against them : they departed very- 
sad j but after two days, a crow returned, and 
throwing itself at the feet of the prophet, and 
sorrowfully fluttering with its wings, seemed to 
crave forgiveness •, and, at the same time, pre- 
sented him with a piece of hog's lard to grease 
his brogues. From that time the crows ceased 
to molest the thatch of the monastery in Lin- 
disfarne. Thus far the venerable Bede, who 
has not explained how the penitent crow should 
have thought of presenting stolen goods to the 
saint by way of atonement for robbery. 

Of the holy Bernard, as Mr Gibbon inclines 
to call him, I am not the apologist. Should we 
hold him to have been an honest man, we must 
acknowledge that he was an extravagant fanatic ; 
and yet, in candour, it ought to be observed, 
that Bernard does not, on his own knowledge, 
relate even a single miracle supposed to have 
been wrought by Malachi. His credulity and 
his admiration of a stranger monk may have 
led him to believe reports which were partly 
fabulous, and partly exaggerated. 

Indeed it may be doubted, whether a Roman 
Catholic of our times would hold himself under 
any obligation to believe whatever Bernard has 



154 CHAPTER in. 

said for example, Walteof, afterwards Abbot 
of Melros, wished to accommodate Malachi 
with a horse, but the only one which he could 
bestow, had a very hard trot. Malachi, how- 
ever, accepted of the present, such as it was, 
and said, that in time the horse -would answer 
his purpose. He rode it for nine years, and it 
proved an excellent pad. So far goes the mi- 
raculous change of the Baron's trotting horse 
into a pacer, for the accommodation of the 
itinerant monk ; and so far alone is Malachi 
concerned in the miracle. Bernard, however, 
adds, a That which made the miracle more 
" manifest to beholders, was, that the horse, 
" originally of a blackish colour or irongrey, 
44 [subniger], began to grow white, and that, 
( * not long after, there was scarcely one whiter 
4 * to be seen." The miracle would have been 
still more manifest to beholders, had the horse, 
originally white, become, in process of time, 
blackish or irongrey. 

At a time when the honest Irish priests be- 
lieved, that during the twelve days obsequies 
of St Patrick the sun never set # , the successive 
miracles wrought on the pad of Malachi might 
have found reasonable credit. 



* Messingham. Fiorilegium Insulae Sanctorum* 
fol.b. 1. 



CHAPTER III. 155 

But whatever may be the case as to Roman 
Catholics, it is supposed that Protestants will 
hardly accuse themselves of inconsistency ^ when, 
admitting the evidence of miracles in the 
second century, they doubt whether, in the 
twelfth, Malachi inflicted a mortal disease on 
his unfortunate countryman, whom he could 
not, by argument^ convince of the Real Presence. 

There are some singular circumstances in the 
miraculous works performed by this saint. 
Even as Bernard relates them, they were not 
always, like those in Scripture, instantaneous. 
On the contrary, the sick person did not recover 
till a day or two after he had been visited by 
Malachi. The cures, in particular, which he 
wrought on lunatics, are very problematical \ 
for his patients sometimes relapsed, aud became 
as mad as ever. 

According to Bernard, the greatest of all the 
miracles of Malachi was the cure of an inveterate 
scold : but one is tired of such trifling. 

The second difficulty, stated by Mr Gibbon, 
is in these words : " Since every friend to re- 
" velation is persuaded of the reality, and every 
4< reasonable man is convinced of the cessatifti 
6i of miraculous powers, it is evident that there 
ct must have been some period in which they 
44 were either suddenly or gradually withdrawn 
u from the Christian church. Whatever sera 



156 CHAPTER WE 

" is chosen for that purpose, the death of the 
*f Apostles, the conversion of the Roman em- 
" pire, or the extinction of the Arian heresy, 
" the insensibility of the Christians who lived 
** at that time will equally afford a just matter 
i( of surprise. They still supported their pre- 
4t tensions, after they had lost their power, 
•f Credulity performed the office of faith j 

fanaticism was permitted to assume the lan- 
u guage of inspiration \ and the effects of ac- 
u cident or contrivance were ascribed to super- 
" natural causes |" i. 570. 

By " conversion of the Roman empire/ 5 Mr 
Gibbon means " the conversion of Constantino 
* the Great to the Christian faith *J J 

One of the seras assigned for the cessation of 
miraculous powers, is, that of " the extinction 
4 ' of the Arian heresy." But there seems no 
better reason for chusing it than there would 
be for chusing another, mentioned by Whiston 
in one of his rhapsodies, the sera of the Council 
of Nice, when, to use his own language, the 
Easebians were overborne by the Athanasians. 

Mr Gibbon says, that " every reasonable 

* This appears from note 82. \ the expression, 
however, is inaccurate \ for Mr Gibbon might have 
recollected, that Constantine, by embracing Chris- 
tianity, and making it the religion of the state, did 
not convert the Roman empire from Paganism. 



CHAPTER III. 137 

^ man is convinced of the cessation of miracu- 
46 Ions powers." By " miraculous powers/' it 
is presumed that he means " a power of work- 

ing miracles, bestowed either on individuals 
u or on the Christian church." Yet while we 
acknowledge the cessation of such power, we 
must be careful to distinguish it from the oc- 
casional interposition of the Divinity in the 
working of miracles : for his operations are not 
to be limited by the presumptuous wisdom of 
his creatures. This is a proposition which can- 
not be too frequently inculcated. 

It is observed by Mr Gibbon, that the insen- 
sibility of the Christians who lived at the time, 
whatever it was, when miraculous powers were 
withdrawn, affords a just matter of surprise ; 
. because " they [the Christians] still supported 
« their pretensions after they had lost their 
" power." 

If Mr Gibbon intended to say, that the same - 
Christians who had lost the power of working 
miracles, still supported their pretensions to that 
power, he has been exceedingly unfortunate in 
his application of the word insensibility to such 
men # . 

* Were an apothecary, on his stock of Peruvian 
hark being exhausted, to make up doses of oak bark 
for his customers, we should charge him with frauds 
not with insensibility* 

o 



158 CHAPTER III. 

I cannot discover any circumstance in ec- 
clesiastical history which tends to show that a 
Christian was ever deprived of miraculous gifts 
and powers, and yet continued to support his 
pretensions to them 4 . If I am right in this, the. 
case put by Mr Gibbon is merely ideal. 

It is proper also to observe, that they who, 
like Mr Gibbon, limit the miraculous gifts and 
powers to the apostolical times, do not hold 
that St John, who probably outlived the other 
Apostles, did exercise them all until the very 
last hour of his life ; and that they who suppose 
them to have been continued, either wholly or 
in part, until the conversion of Constantine the 
Great, and the civil establishment of Christianity, 
do not affirm that they were exercised until the 
moment at which the Emperor was converted, 
or Christianity became the religion of the state. 

Hence it might well happen, that no men 
who had been spectators of a miracle, wrought, 
for instance, in the healing of a disease, were 
ever spectators of a feigned cure : and this may 
serve to shew, that Mr Gibbon too hastily takes 
it for granted, that Christians, at the cessation 
of miracles, had an opportunity of comparing 
real with fictitious miracles, and yet could not 
discern any difference between them. 

That we may view the subject of Mr Gibbon's 
difficulty in a fuller light, let us suppose, as is 



chapter in: 159 
most probable, that the miraculous gifts and 
powers were withdrawn, not at once 3 but gra- 
dually > that is, successively, or, one after ano- 
ther. 

The reader has already perused an argument 
attempting to shew, that, in all likelihood, the 
power of resuscitating the dead, and the gift, 
called in Scripture " the discerning of spirits," 
were not continued after the apostolical times, 
p. 95, — 98. p. 103. — 105.; that the evidence of 
the gift of tongues having been continued after 
the apostolical times, and until the second cen- 
tury, rests on a single and unsatisfactory passage 
in the writings of Irenseus # , p. 99. — 103.; that, 
in the second century, if not sooner, the gift 
of prophecy, or of interpreting the Scriptures 
of the Old Testament, of applying them to the 
events of evangelical history, and of foretelling. 

* Eusebius says, that Irenaeus " points out the 
" marks of a divine and wonderful power left, even 
** unto bis limes, in certain churches m 9 P Hist. Eccles. 
1. V. C 7. [_?u tit x,o&i u$ etvlav vTrc^uyuxla ty}$ faixg k&i 
vr&g&tt^gs fivyap&s&s zv &czXv}<Ttctts rt<riv i>7roXz\zi7r}o.^j This 
seems to imply, that, in the opinion of Eusebius, 
there had been some sensible diminution of miracu- 
lous gifts and powers between the apostolical age and 
the time at which Irenseus wrote. There is a con- 
siderable chasm in the next paragraph, which may 
be supplied from the old Latin version of Irenseus ; 
Adv. hae-res, 1. iL- c.-56, Valesius has overlooked 
this, 



itTO CHAPTER nr. 

the fates of the church, was withdrawn, p. 105; 
i-06 ; and that, even in the earlier part of the 
third century, there was hardly any thing left 
which, in propriety of speech, could be termed 
a miraculous communication afforded in the 
way of vision to the Christians, p. 139. 

"With respect to the miraculous gifts and 
powers hitherto mentioned, the conduct of the 
Christians at large was precisely what might 
have been expected from men of integrity, can- 
dour, and plain understanding. Whenever 
they saw that such gifts and powers were with- 
drawn, they no longer supposed them to exist. 
This appears from the general language and 
conduct of the Christian apologists : While they 
assert the existence of seme miraculous gifts 
and powers, they are silent as to others \ such 
as, the power of resuscitating the dead, the gift 
of tongues, and the gift of discerning of spirits. 

The Christians who lived at the time of the 
civil establishment of Christianity were not eye- 
witnesses of such miraculous gifts and powers 
as had ceased two hundred years or even hun- 
dred years before ; so, to that case at least, the 
observation of Mr Gibbon will not apply, that 
« the recent experience of genuine miracles 
" should have instructed the Christian world in 
w the ways of Providence, and habituated their 
K eve (if we may use a very inadequate expres- 



CHAPTER III. 161 

* sion) to the style of the divine artist i. 571. 

But although many of the miraculous gifts 
and powers ceased long before the civil esta- 
blishment of Christianity, there is very probable, 
if not complete evidence, and especially from 
the writings of Origen, that, even in the earlier 
part of the third century, the Christians cured 
various diseases by prayer, and without any 
human means ; and that they relieved persons 
who appeared to be under the dominion of evil 
spirits. 

It may be admitted, that the evidence of such 
cures is not so full and satisfactory as that on 
which we believe the truth of cures performed 
in the apostolical age ; and it may also be ad- 
mitted, that some of the persons said to have 
been relieved from evil spirits, were, in truth, 
relieved from lunacy and other natural diseases. 

Such appears to me to have been the state 
of the miraculous gifts and powers in the earlier 
part of the third century. When Eusebins 
wrote, not long before the civil establishment 
of Christianity, they were much diminished, as 
we have already seen, p. 143, — 150. and what 
remained was u the manifestation of some small 
"portions of the divine power. 5 ' 

One should have conjectured that the mira- 
culous gifts and powers which, between the 
apostolical age and the days cf Origen, had 

O 3 



\ 



162 CHAPTER m> 

perceptibly decreased, and had decreased still, 
farther when Eusebius wrote, would have disap- 
peared when Christianity, having overcome' its 
adversaries, became the religion of the state. 

Yet, if we may credit the accounts of some 
historians, the very reverse was the case ; and 
the divine power was manifested with more 
abundant light, and with a greater diversity of 
wonders, in the reign of Constantine and his 
children, than while St Peter, St Paul, and St 
John remained upon earth. 

Every learned reader will perceive that I al- 
lude chiefly to the life of Antony, the Egyp- 
tian Anchoret, written by Athanasius, a por- 
tentous work, the life of an illiterate fanatic, 
and one who gloried in his ignorance of letters, 
drawn up, for the most part, from very insuf- 
ficient hearsay, by the ablest Doctor of his 
age *- : * a 

* Some Protestant writers, eager to maintain the 
fame of Athanasius, have doubted whether " the 
" life of Antony," as we now have it, be the work 
of that eminently great man ° y and what thanks have 
they received for their pious attempt ? They have 
been reviled by the writers of another persuasion, no 
Jess than if they had been the inventors or propaga* 
tors of some new and pestilent heresy. Rosweid 
says, " Prefractior et magis effrons incedit Rodolphus 
" Hospinianus j d. Grig. Monach. iii. 1. Et cum 
" eo Abraham Scultetus, Medulla Theol. Patrum, 
" part ii. qui ausi asserere, scriptum hoc quod, hodis 



CHAPTER III. 165 

In the fourth century the hermits of Egypt 
became famous. The Christians who lived in 



" sub Athanasii nomine circumfertur, nullam pror- 
" sus fidem mereri, imo insulsi hominis commentum 

" esse r-vide lector, quid de emedullata ilia Me- 

" dulia Sculteii, quid de monachatu seu moechatu 
" Hospiniani tibi promittere debeas." Rosweid,. 
vitse Patrum, in vitam An tonii. notatio, p. 31. I 
should wish to share in the abuse poured out against 
Hospinianus, Scultetus and other Protestant writers : 
but I cannot see evidence sufficient to clear Athan- 
asius from the charge of writing this silly and most 
contemptible book. It is to be wished that some 
man of learning and candour would examine the life 
of Antony with care,, and communicate the result of 
his inquiries to the public. In particular, it may be 
worth his pains to fix, if possible, the time at which 
Antony, having been suspected of Aiiamsrn,.came 
down to Alexandria from his cell in Upper Egypt r 
for justifying himself, and also to determine whether 
Athanasius was at that time, in Alexandria, as seems 
to be insinuated, c. 41. 43. It will also be fit to 
inquire, whether the prophecy as to the restoration 
of the orthodox church, c. 51. be spoken of as a 
prophecy fulfilled $ and whether it was actually 
fulfilled between the year of our Lord 359, when 
Antony died, and the year 371, when Athanasius 
died. Various other inquiries of the like nature will 
occur to him who sits down, without passion or pre- 
judice, to try, by criticism, this simple issue, " Did 
" Athanasius write the life of Antony, or did he 
" not ?}? 

Pvieanwhile, at may be fit to observe, that the 
author of the life of Antony does not inform his 
readers what part of the book it is for the truth of 
which he vouches. He says, " I have written xvhat 



CHAPTER III, 



society, and consorted with man, were asto- 
nished at the report of manners and institutions 

" 1 myself know, for I have often sten him, AND 
" what I could learn from one who had been an 
" attendant of his for no small space of time.'' 
Tt yivarxst, {yt*Xketx*s yag ot'Sle* latar.?, ) } text 

c>./yov.] Proem, ad Vitam Antonii. - Evagrius 
improperly translates the word mpuuiby visit am 
and hence Cardinal Baronius, who knew no Greek, 
imagined that the writer of the life of Antony had 
visited him in the Egyptian deserts. He might 
have imagined, with equal reason, that the visits 
were frequent ; for such is the force of the word 
visit avi. But as nothing of all this appears, it fol- 
lows, that every thing respecting what happened in 
the desert, is related o» the sole authority of the at- 
tendant. Now, as to events which happened aftei 
Antony left the castle, [see p. 168.] the attendant 
must have received part of his information from 
others, unless he had served x\ntony for fifty years : 
and with respect to more distant events, he must 
have reported them all on the credit of the super- 
annuated old man. 

The writer of the life, having often seen Antony, 
could give a just description of his figure and de- 
meanour. What he saw of his wonders, is related 
in a hasty, and no very credible manner \ for ex- 
ample, it is said, that Pagans, and the priests of idols^ 
crowded to see the man of God, as Antony was 
universally denominated, strove to touch the hem of 
his garment, and imagined that they received benefit 
from the touch, c. 42. 43. 

Let me add, that the author of the life admits, 
in his introduction, that he wrote it in a hurry, and 
to satisfy the impatience of his correspondents, 



CHAPTER III. 165 

so unlike their own. Thev found, that some 

j j 

persons had been banished into the deserts of 
Egypt by the persecuting Emperors ; that 
others had fled thither to avoid persecution : 
and that many more, from diverse motives, had 
associated themselves, if that phrase may be al- 
lowed, with the banished and the fugitives, and 
had formed a system of government unlike any 
thing ever established by human or divine legi- 
slators. The attention with which they ab- 
stracted themselves from sublunary concerns, 
their singular contests with devils appearing in 
bodily shapes, their unexampled austerities, the 
visions said to have been seen, and the miracles 
said to have been wrought by them, all concur- 
red in persuading many unwary Christians, that 
something strange and supernatural was mani- 
fested in the deserts of Egypt. 

Antony, a person altogether illiterate * 3 was 

without having time to make proper inquiries at the 
It Onks, and to receive their answers- concerning 

A x ° 

Antony. 

* Antony was an Egyptian of honourable birth. 
His parents put him to school, but he would never 
learn any thing j Athanas. vita Antonii, c. 1. This, 
which might have been termed obstinacy or stupi- 
dity in a boy, he justified when of riper years. u He 
" neither knew letters, (says Sozomen), nor did he 
u admire them j but he extolled good sense, as being 
" more ancient than letters, and itself the inventor 
" of them [yeecufufiz 2s &3s jjjnsrafla, sS; eiavfO^tq 



166 



CHAPTER III. 



the chief of the Egyptian hermits, ascetics, or 
monks i and that numerous fraternity seems to 
have looked on every divine grace, gift, and 
power, as concentred in him. Before he came 
of age he disposed of all his possessions*, which 

6tX\$t ayx&zv &ts Tr^tvTt^ rscv yoxiAuxTc*^ KXi x6 *cy 
Txlav tvgfiw i7TY)vu-^ i. 13. The same fanatical tenet 
is recorded, with much solemnity, by Athanasius ? - 
vita Antonii, c. 45. Here let it be observed, that 
in the life of this illiterate hermit, there occurs a 
sermon to his brethren in the desert, c. 15. — 20. : 
and a disccurse, addressed to some Heathen philoso- 
phers, on the vanity of Paganism, and the truth of 
the Christian religion, c» 46. 41. I cannot subscribe 
to the doctrines of the sermon, as when he says, thai 
the devils have a particular ill-will to monks, and 
women devoted to a single life \ that when devils 
appear visibly, they vanish on the sign of the cross 
being made - y and I do not thoroughly understand 
the reasoning of the discourse, yet I must say, that 
if the sermon and the discourse be compositions of 
Antony, they exhibit a greater miracle than any re- 
corded in his life j for they are composed altogethei 
in the style of a rhetorician, and according to the 
rules of art. The knowledge or Arrtony in the 
mythology of the Heathens, and in the arts practis- 
ed by learned men to veil the absurdities of that 
system, is indeed wonderful \ one should be apt to 
suppose that Tertullian, Minucius Felix, or some 
learned Greek Father, was speaking, and not a her- 
mit from Upper Egypt, who could not read, anu 
who understood nought excepting his mother-tongue, 
* On hearing that gospel read, " sell that thou 
" hast," &c. he sold his lands, and bestowed the 
price among the poor, and on hearing that other 



CHAPTER III. 167 

appear to have been considerable, and began to 
earn a subsistence by manual labour. He after- 
wards betook himself to dwell among the tombs 
in the neighbourhood of Alexandria. The 
devil and his associates forced open the gate of 
Antony's habitation, assaulted and grievously 
wounded him, and left him half dead f . Be- 
fore he was recovered enough to be able to 
stand upright, they came back in the shape of 
savage, fierce, and venomous animals, and 

gospel read, " take no thought for to-morrow," &c. 
lie sold his other effects, and distributed their value 
in like manner \ Athanas. vita Antonii, c. 2. 3. 
Here, however, he was surpassed by another and less 
celebrated monk, who, having no property but a 
copy of the Gospels, disposed of the book, gave 
away its price in charity, aud then exultingly cried, 
u I have sold that book which says, sell all thou 
4i hast, and give to the poor ; n Socrates Scholasticus^ 
v. 23. 

f We must beware of understanding this in a 
spiritual sense. Antony was liter ally beat to the 
effusion of his blood \ and he was gored by the devil 
in the likeness of a bull. He often related the story 
to his brethren in the desert, and averred that the 
wounds inflicted on his body were exceedingly grie- 
vous and painful j Vita Antonii, c. 7. Perhaps, 
after all, the story may have been true, and the 
evil spirit and his fellows may have been represented, 
not unaptly, by some of the petulant and unfeeling 
rabble of Alexandria, who took a barbarous plea- 
sure in abusing a poor creature, half crazed with 
fanaticism and abstinence. 



168 CHAPTER III. 

wounded him anew with inexpressible cruelty 

At the age of thirty-five he retired up the 
country, and dwelt in different places of the 
Egyptian deserts for seventy years. 

He nrst took possession of an uninhabited 
castle ; and, having laid in a store of biscuit for 
six months, he shut himself up from all con- 
verse with mankind. His friends and admirers 
took care, at stated times, to supply him with 
provisions^ such as he had chosen for himself ; 
and they let down his pittance through the roof 
ef the castle ; but he would never shew him- 
self, or converse with them. Having lived for 
twenty years after this singular fashion, he came 
forth, expelled evil spirits, cured diseases, and 
assiduously preached up a monastic life. 

Antony hearing of the persecution at Alex- 
andria, repaired thither, with the view of suf- 
fering martyrdom : but although he affected to 
appear in public, he was totally disregarded by 
the Heathen magistrate ; and while Peter 

* This story is better known than any of the 
other adventures of Antony } for the comic painters 
in Roman-Catholic countries have been permitted, 
I know not why, to make it the subject of many 
grotesque pieces. I dare not repeat the conference 
which Antony is said to have had with our Lord , 
and it seems superfluous to repeat the conversations 
which he held with the devil on the subject of those 
assaults and batteries, and also when he was tempted 
in a form less terrific, but not less dangerous. 



CHAPTER 11H lo9 

Bishop of Alexandria, and many other eminent 
persons, were apprehended and put to death, 
Antony was allowed to go about unmolested, 
and at large * : so he returned to the desert, 
and began to practise greater austerities. He 
put on a haircloth, and ever after abstained 
from bathing his body, or even washing his 
feet. 

Various and extraordinary were the things 
which happened to him in the desert. At one 
time, the devil appeared to him in the likeness 
of an animal, neither centaur nor minotaur, but 
half-man, half-ass. Antony made the sign of 
the cross the monster run away, fell, and was 
killed f . 

At another time he was carried up into the 
air by angels. The devils met him, and de- 
manded how he came there> being a sinner ? 
The angels defied the devils to prove that An- 

* Vita Antonii, c. 23. This was in the ninth 
year of the last persecution , A. D. 311. when Max- 
imin Daia beheaded Peter Bishop of Alexandria, 
Euseb. Hist. Eccles. vii. 32. viii. 13. ix. 6. The 
safety of Antony has been ascribed to some miracu- 
lous interposition in his favour. But, perhaps, his 
character was not so thought of at Alexandria as in 
the desert \ and an illiterate layman, who could not 
have been tried without an interpreter, might well 
have escaped in the multitude. 

f Vita Antonii, c. 25. 

P 



170 CHAPTER III. 

tony had ever committed sin from the hour thai 
he became a monk. Notwithstanding all their 
malice, the devils could not make good their 
charge *. This was transacted in a vision ; but 
it was not a vision of humility and it only 
tends to prove, that a monk may be without 
sin, whereas laymen and the secular clergy 
offend daily. 

He saw the soul of Ammon, a brother monk, 
conveyed to heaven by angels \ and then, al- 
though Amnion resided at the distance of 
thirteen days journey from him, he instantly 
told the precise hour of his death f. 

A quality he had much resembling that which, 
in our days, is called the second sight. At the 
distance of a day's journey he perceived a monk 
perishing with thirst in the wilderness, and he 
sent timely relief to him. There are other 
instances of the like nature given by his histo- 
rian i. 

To all which it may be added, that Antony 
discovered, by the smell, a devil lurking in the 
body of a man \ and that, on a certain occasion, 
he twice crossed the canal at Arsinoe, without 
being devoured by crocodiles ||. 



* Vita Antonii, c. 37. 
T lb, c. 31. 34.38. 



f lb. c. 32. 

|| Ib.c. 35. c. 14. 



CHAPTER III. 171 

From this specimen of the wonders said to 
have been wrought towards the middle of the 
fourth century, we may learn, that if, at that 
time, the Christians, in general, gave credit to 
them, it was not by reason ef any insensibility 
which hindered them from distinguishing be- 
tween real miracles and fallacious wonders \ but 
it was because they trusted too much to reports- 
never tried by the standard of moral evi- 
dence. 

It is probable that the adventures of Antony, 
his miracles, and his strange visions, would not 
have found much credit, had they not been con- 
nected with an opinion, which began to be en- 
tertained, of the transcendent sanctity of a mo- 
nastic life, and of the persons who devoted 
themselves to it. 

I doubt, however, as to their general recep- 
tion when they were first promulgated ; for An- 
tony is said to have declared himself the enenry 
of Arianism, and to have pronounced it to be 
the forerunner of Antichrist, and the last, that 
is, the worst and the greatest heresy * \ and it 
cannot be supposed, that the Arians, at that 
time a numerous and powerful body, would 
have yielded implicit faith to the eventful histo- 

* Vita Antonii, c. 41. Little did Antony know 
that a worse and a greater error was afterwards to 
arise concerning the nature of our Lord. 



272 CHAPTER III. 

ry of an orthodox monk, and especially if his 
historian was Athanasius : we might as well sup- 
pose that the orthodox believed in the miracles 
of Agapetus, the Arian Bishop of Synnada, 
who, surpassing Antony, not only drove diseases 
away, but also raised men from the dead % . 

Indeed, before the conclusion of the fourth 
century, men were willing to believe every won- 
derful tale calculated to enforce veneration for 
z monastic life, and to confirm the popular sen- 
timents as to the sanctity of those who profess- 
ed it. Evidence and probability seem to have 
been no longer regarded, and the hearsay sto- 
ries disseminated, by travellers of all denomina- 
tions, concerning things done in a corner , obtain- 
ed easy credit with prejudiced and superstitious 
auditors. 

In this view, let us examine some of the mi- 
racles said to have been wrought by Macarius> 
surnamed the Egyptian. 

He appears to have been the hermit of most 
eminence after the death of Antony. At the 
age of thirty he betook himself to the desert \ 
and, after having resided there for sixty years, 
he died, [A. D- 391.] 

* Philostorgius, ii. 8. Suidas, on the authority 
of one Thalassius, says, that another Arian Bishop, 
Theophilus, restored a dead person to life, 



CHAPTER III. 17$ 

In the year after Macarius died, Palladius, a 
personage well known by the writings of Jerom, 
visited the desert, with the purpose of collect- 
ing wonders for the edification of the civilized 
world ; and it must be acknowledged that his 
journey was prosperous. 

Amon^ others, he found, as he says, the fol- 
lowing story. A leud Egyptian attempted in 
vain to debauch a matron of virtuous character. 
Irritated at this, he got a magician to transform 
her into a mare. The disconsolate husband led 
his mare to Macarius, who sprinkled her head 
with consecrated water, and restored her original 
shape. " Go in peace, (said Macarius to the 

woman) ; but remember henceforth to be 
u more circumspect for your omission to com- 
« municate during five weeks, was the cause of 
» the metamorphosis 

Palladius adds, that it was the constant talk 
in the desert, that Macarius raised a man from 
the dead, in order to confute a heretic who dis- 
believed the resurrection of the body f . 

Rufinus, on visiting the desert, gleaned 
abundantly after Palladius. 

Instead of relating the story of the matron 
transformed into a mare, he says, that there 
was a girl w^hom her relations imagined to have 



* Palladii Lausiaca, c, 19. f lb. c. 20, 

PS 



174 CHAPTER III. 

been so transformed, although the girl herself 
asserted the contrary. Macarius anointed her 
with oil, and then her relations saw that the 
supposed metamorphosis was a magical delu- 
sion *i 

He next mentions a complicated miracle in- 
deed, by which a diseased little girl was chan- 
ged into a healthy man f . 

Again, there chanced to be found in the de- 
sert a dead body, bearing marks of violence. A 
person was taken up, on suspicion, as the mur- 
derer. Macarius asked the dead man, whether 
that person was guilty ? u I was murdered, 
K (said the dead man), but not by him." The 
brethren pressed Macarius to ask who commit- 
ted the murder. " No, (answered he) ; it is 
« enough that I clear the innocent : it is net 
" my office to convict the guilty : perhaps the 
*< murderer may yet be struck with compunc- 
« tion, and repent, to the saving of his 
" soul ±." 

* Rufim vitae Palrttm, 1. 2. c. 2S. 

4 Rutin, ib. A Roman author speaks of the north 
as being " officina gentium the desert of Egypt 
might, with equal reason, have been termed " ofKcina 
4J fmrocuiorumy 

X RuSn. vitae Patnrrn, 1. 2. c. 28. & iii. 41. Tin's 
is dangerous casuistry indeed ! Rufinus elsewhere 
speaks of some heterodox opinions which a human 
scull uttered in the course of conversation with Ma- 



CHAPTER III. 175 

Rumius also gives a second and improved 
edition of the story in Palladius, concerning the 
man who was brought back to life, that a here- 
tic might be persuaded of the resurrection of 
the body. The heretic was of the sect of the 

carius, 1. iii. § 172. Here Rosweid himself hesi- 
tates, and adds on the margin, " Sane haec intelli- 
" genda." [These things must be understood in a 
sound sense.] This might have been the running 
title of his book. 

I cannot quit this subject without mentioning what 
is said by the English translator of the Homilies as- 
seribed to Macarius the Egyptian. His words are : 
** To come now to what is most material, what com- 
u pletes his other miracles, and proves him beyond 
r dispute a man of God, i. Kings, xvii.24. it is upon 
i; record, that he even raised the dead to life. Once, 
" indeed, it was to silence an Hieracite that had 
" given no little disturbance to the brethren, by the 
44 artifice of his discourse j and at another is he re- 
" ported to have raised one from the dead, to con- 
" vince an heretic of the resurrection of the bodv ; 
" nor was this ever contradicted or endeavoured to 
" be stifled in the desert," Introduction, § 5. p. 14. 
That this precious morsel of antiquity might appear 
to better advantage, two miracles are made out of 
one : for it is plain that Palladius and Runnus speak 
of the same story. A thing mentioned by them can- 
hardly be said to be upon record ; and as for the 
monks, they kept no record of miracles *, but, on the 
contrary, delivered them down from one to another 
by unwritten tradition. [$iccSo%n xetpadctjws ATPA- 
<4>OT.j Sozom. 1. i. c. 14. I admit, however, that 
they did not stifle them in the desert : thai would 
have been unnatural. 



176 CHAPTER III. 

Hieraciii?) who are supposed to have denied that" 
tenet. He had frequently disputed with Ma- 
carius on the subject ; when at length the saint 
said, " Let his faith be held right who can first 
w recall a dead man to life." The heretic, who 
denied the resurrection of the body, accepted 
this singular challenge, and desired Macarius to 
begin. He instantly performed the miracle. 
The astonished heretic run off, and all the bre- 
thren pursuing him, drove him out of the coun- 
try *. 

Perhaps I have spoken too diffusely of the 
third of those secondary causes to which the ra- 
pid progress of Christianity is ascribed by Mr 
Gibbon. But the subject is both intricate and 
momentous, and not the less so from the man- 
ner in which he has happened to treat it* 

Let me conclude with observing, that real 
miracles cannot properly be ranged among the 
secondary causes on which Mr Gibbon descants : 
for, among the primary causes of the victory ob- 
tained by the Christian faith over the established 
religions of the earthy he reckons the ruling provi- 
dence of its great Author. Now, the bestowing 
of miraculous powers and gifts by Christ and 
the Holy Spirit, must, in Mr Gibbon's account, 
be an interposition of that ruling Providence* 



* Ru£n. 1. ii. c. 28. 



CHAPTER III. 177 

and, consequently, a primary cause of the rapid 
progress of Christianity. 

As to fictitious miracles, Mr Gibbon has net 
asserted, and I hope he did not mean to assert, 
that they were one of the secondary causes which 
made the Christian faith obtain victory over the 
established religions of the earth. But should 
any loose and unguarded phrases of his seem to 
have a tendency that way, it is to be presumed 
that, on a serious review of the argument, he 

will BLOT THEM OUT. 



178 



CHAPTER IV. 

To the virtues of the primitive Christians, 
the fourth cause of the rapid growth of Chri- 
stianity is ascribed. 

" The primitive Christian/' says Mr Gibbon, 
a demonstrated his faith by his virtues ; and it 
*f was very justly supposed^ that the divine per- 
" suasion, which enlightened or subdued the un- 
" derstanding, must, at the same time, purify 
" the heart, and direct the actions of the belie- 
« ver. The first apologists of Christianity, 
" who justify the innocence of their brethren, 
" — display, in the most lively colours, the re- 
" formation of manners which was introduced 
" into the world by the preaching of the gos- 
« pel." i. 572. 

Here the virtues of the primitive Christians 
are acknowledged : It might, however, have 
been wished, that a less ambiguous phrase had 
been used than that of, u the divine persuasion 
" which enlightened or subdued the understand- 
« ing." Every considerate reader will remark 
the singularity of the alternative. It is one of 



CHAPTER IV, 179 

the offices of the Holy Spirit, to " enlighten the 
" understanding ;" but to « subdue" it, is none 
of them, unless the word " understanding" be 
taken in a different sense when it is said to be 
« subdued," than when it is said to be " en- 
" lightened." Such change of terms, however 
allowable to rhetoricians, cannot be admitted in 
historical reasoning. 

Mr Gibbon might have said, " the divine 
" persuasion, which enlightened the understand- 
" ing and subdued the will that is, the way- 
ward propensities of human nature : these, un- 
doubtedly, are the offices of the Holy Spirit. 

But to proceed. Mr Gibbon concurs with 
St Paul in supposing that " the fruit of the Spi- 
« rit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering [patience], 
" gentleness, goodness, faith [or faithfulness], 
*i meekness, temperance * and he even ac- 
knowledges the supposition to be very just. 

And yet, instead of proceeding to show how 
the virtues of the primitive Christians tended 
to convert Heathens, or made others to glorify 
their Father^ he at once deviates from his sub- 
ject ; and, if the phrase may be allowed, begins 
with a digression. 

« As it is my intention," says he, " to remark 
" only such human causes as were permitted to 



* Galat.v. 22. 23. 



180 CHAPTER IV. 

9? second the influence of revelation, I shall 
" slightly mention two motives which might na- 
** tu rally render the lives of the primitive Chri- 

stians much purer and more austere than those 
" of their Pagan contemporaries, — Repentance 
" for past sins, and the laudable desire of sup- 
U porting the reputation of the society in which 
" they were engaged." 

Thus, instead of describing the effects which 
the virtues of the primitive Christians had in the 
converting of the Heathen world, Mr Gibbon 
favours us with a dissertation on the causes of 
those virtues. 

He begins with two propositions, which are 
of great moment. The first is, That the pri- 
mitive Christians were virtuous \ and the se- 
cond, That they were more virtuous than their 
Pagan contemporaries, These propositions will 
be admitted by all men who, like Mr Gibbon, 
are acquainted with the history of the primi- 
tive church, and with the tenets and manners of 
Paganism in the early times of Christianity. 

But as some of the admirers of Mr Gibbon 
may chance to be less conversant in antiquity 
than he is, it will not be improper to fix in their 
minds his decided opinion, that the primitive 
Christians were virtuous, and that they 

WERE MORE VIRTUOUS THAN THEIR PAGAN 
CONTEMPORARIES. 



CHAPTER FSP, 181 

Let us now follow Mr Gibbon in his digres- 
sion, and inquire into the natural motives which 
impelled the Christians to be mare- excellent than 
t/uir neighbours. 

" It is a very ancient reproach, suggested by 
" the ignorance or the malice of infidelity, that 
« the Christians allured into their party the most 
" atrocious criminals; who, as soon as they were 
" touched by a sense of remorse, were easily 
" persuaded to wash away, in the water of bap- 
" tism, the guilt of their past conduct \ for 
" which the temples of the gods refused to grant 
U them any expiation L 573. 

In proof of this proposition, Celsus and Ju- 
lian are quoted. 

Julian, in his open, as well as in his more po- 
litic and covert attempts against Christianity, 
was malicious^ but we cannot, with propriety, 
term him ignorant. 

And the like may be observed as to Celsus ; 
who, under the personated character of a Jew, 
misinterprets the Scriptures, and takes every ad- 
vantage which the folly or fanaticism of Chri- 
stian individuals afforded him. 

This personated character, and these little arts 
of controversy y tend to show that he was not so 
much an ignorant y as a malicious enemy ; and 
therefore, until some other evidence than that 
of Celsus and Julian be produced, " the igno- 



1'82 CHAPTER IV. 

a ranee of infidelity" seems out of the ques- 
tion. 

Mr Gibbon says* " the malice of infidelity 
u suggested, that the most atrocious criminals, 
« as soon as they were touched by a sense of 
« remorse, were easily persuaded to wash away, 
" in the water of baptism, a guilt for which the 
u temples of the gods refused to grant them any 
« expiation." 

That " the temples of the gods refused to 

grant any expiation," is a poetical phrase, im- 
porting, " that the ministers of the popular 
w religion amongst the Pagans refused to grant 
" that expiation to criminals, which the Chri- 
« stian teachers persuaded them to receive by 
« baptism." 

So scrupulous and severe were the Pagan 
priests, and on such easy terms might any one 
be admitted into the Christian church ! 

But here j as every one must perceive, the 
malicious infidels affected to be ignorant of the 
genius of Paganism *. 

It is said, that " the most atrocious criminals 
" were easily persuaded to wash away their guilt 
" in the water of baptism." 

* It may be remarked, in passing, that the Greek 
ety^j and the Latin piaculum, mean sin, as well as 

expiation for sin. 



CHAPTER IV. 183 

Now, this implies, that, according to the prin- 
ciples of Christianity, the mere right of baptism 
had the singular virtue of washing away guilt \ 
and that the ministers of Christ did not require 
from their proselytes any belief of the Chri- 
stian system, or any engagements to amend in 
future j or, more briefly thus, that " they held 

* out baptism to be, in itself, a charm for the 
" expiation of sins.'* 

Celsus, it is probable, knew, and without 
4oubt Julian did, that this was precisely the re- 
verse of what Christ and his apostles taught, 
and the discipline of the primitive church en* 
forcecL 

Here we see that spirit which Mr Gibbon 
well terms " the malice of infidelity." 

" Baptism," says Dr Bentley, " is rallied as 
€( mere wiuking ; and repentance, as thumping 
« the breast^ or other outward grimace. The 
« inward grace and the intrinsic change of mind 
« are left out of the character. And whom are 
" we to believe ? these Pagans, or our own 

* selves ? Are we to fetch our notions of the 
" sacraments from scraps of Julian and Celsus ? 
" or from the Scripture^ the pure fountain, and 
« from what we read, know, and profess * ?" 

* Remarks upon a late Discourse of Freethinkiag, 
§ xliii. 



t$4f CHAPTER IV. 

These are obvious remarks *, but Mr Gibbon- 
appears to -have considered the subject in a more 
uncommon point of view \ for he ..says, a This 
{< reproach, when it is cleared from mis represen- 
ts tation y contributes as much to the honour as 
({ it did to the increase of the church The 
H friends of Christianity may acknowledge, 
H without a blush, that many of the most eminent 
M saint: had been before their baptism the most aban- 
u doned sinners. Those persons, who in the 
u world had followed, though in an imperfect 
4C manner* the dictates of benevolence and pro- 
" priety, derived such a calm satisfaction from: 
" the opinion of their own rectitude, as render* 
* ( ed them much less susceptible of the sudden 
" emotions of shame^ grief, and of terror, which 
« have given birth to so many wonderful ccnver- 
** siom. After the example . of their divine Ma- 
tt ster. the missionaries of the gospel disdained 
tt not the society of men, and especially of wo~ 
« men % oppressed by the consciousness, and very 
« often by the ertects of their vices. As they 
a emerged from sin and superstition, to the glc— 
U rious hope of immortality, they resolved to 
*f devote themselves to a life, not only of virtue, 
" but of penitence. The desire of perfection- 

* The phrase is uncommon in modern language, 
Reproach is here used for the circumstance with 
which the primitive Christians were reproached* 



CHAPTER IV. 18o 

« became the ruling passion of their soul ; and 
" it is well known, that, while reason embraces a 
« cold mediocrity , our passions hurry us> with ra- 
ti pi d violence, over the space which lies between 
" the most opposite extremes ;" i. 573. 

It is the purpose of Mr Gibbon, to " clear 
" the reproach from misrepresentation." He 
begins by admitting the fact charged •, and, with 
a sort of conscious exultation, he adds, that 
" many of the most eminent saints [or Christians] 
f* were, before their baptism, the most abandoned 
« sinners/ 9 and lest the fact should be disputed, 
he subjoins an elaborate argument, for proving 
that it must have been so from " the reason of 
" the thing." 

In this he is praise-worthy, that he begins 
with facts, and does not, like some theorists, 
first lay down " the reason of the thing," and 
then accommodate facts to it. 

It is not absolutely certain, whether Mr Gib- 
bon here means to speak of Jewish or of Gen- 
tile converts ; I shall therefore take his words 
in their most extensive sense, as including 
both. 

Celsus says, that the apostles were " infamous 
«* persons, publicans, and boatmen, exceedingly 
« wicked *." 

* ETHppiOTaj «yt^&/7Ttf£, 7S/\«>VA:s, KOti VSSrVT&q, 7Tm\- 

g4T#7as. Celsus ap. Origen, 1. i. p. 47. edit. Spencer, 



I'£5 CHAPTER IT. 

Origen conjectures that this delineation of 
the manners of the first disciples is copied from 
a passage in the epistle that goes under the 
name of Barnabas, which says, « Jesus select- 
u ed for apostles-, to preach his gospel, men sin- 
*f fid above all other shiners y that he. might 
" prove, that he came, not to call the righteous, 
" but sinners to repentance 

This epistle was not written by Barnabas, 
the celebrated companion of St Paul ; and in- 
deed it is not mentioned bv any Christian writer 
till near the close of the second century f. J> 

The assertion of this unknown author seems 
to have been grounded, not on any historical 
facts, but on an inference from that saying of 
Jesus, that " he came not to call the righteous, 
" but sinners to repentance/' From this say^ 
ing, imperfectly understood, the author of the 
epistle concluded, that as the apostles were call- 

yiXioy aura s|sA«J#r<5, ovrag Ittzp 7ra<rx,v a t uu^riotv avouoTi- 
iv% duzt on we r t X$i zxte(r*t diKcuag, ctAA aua^TMX^g 

US fttTZVGtGlV. J 5. 

f The earliest mention of it is in the works of 
Clemens Alexandrinus. The earnestness with which 
Archbishop Wake endeavours to support the autho- 
rity of this epistle is singular \ Introduction to Apo- 
stolical Fathers, c. vii. Archbishop Laud was not 
so credulous j see his elegant letter to Father Me- 
nard, Patr. Apost. i. In. p. 20. edit* Russel. 



CHAPTER IV. 187 

ed in an especial manner, they must needs have 
been sinners above all others. 

Hert we may see an example of the sad con- 
sequences which the hasty and injudicious no- 
tions of our friends too often produce. Our 
adversaries, such as Ceisus, being on the watch, 
lay hold of them, and turn them to their own 
purposes. The Evangelical History is open to 
all j and from that history alone can we learn, 
whether those who, in the first days of Christi- 
anity, acknowledged Jesus to be the Messiah, 
were " most abandoned sinners." 

Among the first who witnessed this good 
confession was Simeon. All that we know of 
his character is, that he was " a man just and 
" devout, waiting for the consolation of Is~ 
« rael * " 

The next is Anna, a woman indeed, but, 
with LIr Gibbon's good leave, not " oppressed 
« by the consciousness, and even effects of her 
« vices." 1 She was of great age, and had li- 
" ved with an husband seven years from her 
" virginity ; and she few a widow- of about four 
" score and four years, which departed not from 
" the temple, but served God with fastings and 
« prayers night and day f 

ixvix. Luke ii. 25. 
f Luke ii. 36. 37. 



188 CHAPTER IV. 

When Jesus chose Andrew, Peter, James,, 
and John to be his apostles, he found them in- 
dustriously occupied in their vocation of fisher- 
men # .- But neither on that occasion, nor on 
any other, do we see him addressing himself ta 
them, as to men more sinful than the other in- 
habitants of Galilee. Sinners, no doubt, they 
were ; and even after they became the disciples 
of Jesus, they retained popular and national 
prejudices $ and it must be acknowledged, that 
their character does not come up to our idea of 
Christian perfection. 

Matthew sat at the receipt of custom when 
Jesus called himf. The office of publican was 
in disrepute among the Jews ; yet we ought not 
from thence to suppose Matthew to have been 
a bad man, and much less " a most abandoned 
" sinner." The office, however rapaciously ex- 
ercised by many, was innocent in itself : and it 
is a just, although trite observation, that when 
publicans came to be baptised of John, and 
f said unto him, Master, what shall we do ? he 
« said unto them, Exact no more than that 
« which is appointed you X r" did not en- 

* Matth. iv. 18,-22. 

f Matth. ix. 9. Mark, rL 14. Luke, v. 27. 28. 
t Luke iiL 12. 13 



CHAPTER IV. 189 

them to relinquish their employment, as 
being sinful. 

Had the apostles and first disciples of Jesus 
been, in general, men of profligate lives-, we 
might have expected, from the known candour 
cf the Evangelists, that a circumstance so re- 
markable would not have been passed over in 
silence ; and this the rather, because the Evan- 
gelists are careful in recording the faults and 
errors of those apostles and disciples^ even after 

thev became followers of Jesus. 

j 

Concerning one disciple, in particular, we 
learn from the highest authority, that he was 
not " a most abandoned sinner." For it is thus 
written : " Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, 
« and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, 
" in whom is no guile 

And, without meaning to depreciate the kf£q 
cacy of divine grace, we may conjecture, that, 
in the natural dispositions f of the disciple "whom 
« Jesus loved," there was something peculiarly 
amiable. 

Jesus came 9 to call sinners to repentance." 
* John, i. 47. 

f Thus John. Peter, and Thomas, all partook cf 
the divine grace j and yet the diversity of character 
in those three apostles induces us to conclude, that 
their natural impositions were different. On con- 
sulting par iial or fictitious accounts of holy persons, 
we find them all, as it were, cast in the same mould, 



190 CHAPTER IV. 

And the heavy lade?i y who, on this gracious invi- 
tation repaired to him, found rest. It is no 
less certain, that, after their conversion, great 
sinners would love him much. 

But it is both unwarrantable and dangerous 
to conclude from this, that the disciples of Je- 
sus, before they heard and obeyed his call to 
faith and repentance, were, in general, persons 
of profligate lives, or « most abandoned sin- 
" ners." • 

It is unwarrantable to say so, because such an 
hypothesis has no authority from Scripture \ 
snd that it is dangerous will be presently seen.. 

When Jesus appeared upon earth, there pre- 
vailed a general expectation of the coming of 
the Messiah. 

To prove that he was that Messiah, Jesus ap- 
pealed, to prophecies already fulfilled, or which 
were gradually fulfilling in him % to the doc- 
trine which he taught \ and to the miracles 
which he performed. 

Now, we ought to weigh all circumstances 
well before we pronounce, that " many most 
« abandoned sinners," such as lewd women, rob- 
bers, and assassins, were the persons who first 
discerned the fulfilling of the prophecies in Je- 
sus, the excellence of his doctrine, and the truth 
of his miracles. 

And we ought to be more cautious still, be- 



CHAPTER IV. 191 

fore we pronounce, from the nature of the 
thing, that persons placed in " the cold medio- 
" crity of reason" could hardly have become 
Christians at all. 

By the preaching of Peter, on the day of 
Pentecost, there were added to the Church 
« about three thousand souls." 

From the abridgement of his discourse, as 
given by St Luke it appears that he did not 
confine himself to such topics as might raise 
" emotions of shame, grief, and terror," in his 
hearers. His discourse was addressed to their 
reason, no less than to their passions. It ap- 
pealed to prophecy ; to " the miracles, wonders, 
" and signs, which God wrought by Jesus to 
the late fact of his resurrection ; and to one 
•still later, the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

At the beginning of the chapter, mention is 
made of " devout men and there is all rea- 
son to believe from the context, that those men 
were hearers of St Peter. Does Mr Gibbon 
reckon among his wonderful conversions^ that 

* Acts, ii. 40. The expression, " abridgement of 
a his discourse," is used, because St Luke says, 
" with many other words did he testify," ii. 40. 

] that is, " he 

" said much more, and he appealed to other evi- 
u dence." All this, although material, is lost or 
obscured in our vulgar translation. 



192 CHAPTER IV. 

great increase of the Christian church, of whkk 
St Peter was the instrument ? If he does, he 
must either hold, that those " devout men" 
were not convinced by the arguments of the 
Apostle, or he must distinguish them from his 
" many most abandoned sinners." 

Mr Gibbon says, that Jesus disdained not 
the society « of men, and especially of <ivomen y 
" oppressed by consciousness, and very often 
" by the effects of their vices." 

It is no doubt true, that Jesus did not avoid 
the company of those who led vicious lives ; 
and that he even invited them to repentance. 
But we have no authority from the Scriptures 
to assert that there were many persons of that 
denomination, and especially ivomen^ who obeyed 
his gracious call, and became his disciples. 

There is one example of this sort, in the 
case of that female penitent whose conversion 
is recorded by St Luke # , and to whom our 

* Luke vii. 36. — 50. The name of this tender- 
hearted and bumble penitent is not known. Many 
commentators, from Chrysostom down to Grotius, 
suppose her to have been Mary Magdalene ; but 
this is merely a fanciful conjecture, without evidence. 
The author of the Golden Legends goes a step fur- 
ther, and ventures to assert, that " the woman in the 
" city, which was a sinner, Mary Magdalene, and 
" Mary the sister of Lazarus," are three several 
appellations of the same person. He says, that the 
castle of Magdalum, and Bethany, together with 



CHAPTER IV* 



193 



Lord said, " Thy faith hath saved thee ; go ir 
fc< peace." 

But surely the circumstances of her story do 
not warrant the expression which Mr Gibbon 
has thought fit to use and there is, if possible, 
still less warrant for his applying it to the con- 
duct of the apostles* 

The nature of Mr Gibbon's general observa- 
tions would have been more discernible, had 
he illustrated them by examples drawn from 
the Evangelical History. As he has omitted 
this, we are left to mere conjecture and pos- 

large possessions in Jerusalem, belonged to Lazarus, 
and his two sisters Martha and Mary j that they 
divided the inheritance \ and that the c as lie or 
Magdalum fell to the share of Mary, who on that 
account was called Magdalene. Mary, continues 
the historian, being very rich and beautiful, aban- 
doned herself so excessively to unlawful pleasures, 
that she lost her own name, and got that of the 
sinner. After having accommodated all this, as 
well as he could, to the conversion of the penitent 
woman in St Luke, he adds, " this is the Mary 
" Magdalene whom the Lord placed on a footing 
" of most intimate familiarity, so that he made him- 
" self her guest, and had her for his purveyor in his 
u journies. Ha-c est ilia Maria Magdalena — Domi- 
" nus earn fa miliar is s imam sibi consti r uit^ hospitam 
w suam fecit, procuratricem earn in itinere habuitl' % 
Sanct. Legend, fol. 160. b. edit. 1476. The ex- 
pression in Mr Gibbon corresponds better with the 
Golden Legends, than with the Evangelical His- 
tory, 

R 



CHAPTER IV. 

sibly we may imagine that he alludes to " emi- 
< - i nent saints" who were not in his thought. 

Perhaps he had St Paul in his view ; a most 
eminent saint indeed, but who nevertheless 
acknowledged himself to be *1 the chief of 
4f sinners # ." 

If so, it may be fit to remind him, that that 
Apostle was at no time a " most abandoned 
" sinner," in the common acceptation of the 
phrase ; but, on the contrary, was one who 
u derived a calm satisfaction from the opinion 
" of his own rectitude." 

St Paul, speaking of his state while he was 
yet a persecutor, says, that he had been " taught 
*' according to the perfect manner of the law 
4{ of the fathers, and was zealous towards God f 
that, " after the straitest sect of the Jewish 
religion, he lived a Pharisee % and at the 
same time, for his « manner of life from his 
" youth," he appealed to the evidence of his 
accusers themselves. 

And more particularly still, he speaks of 
himself to the Philippians, as of one « touching 

* lTim.i. L5. 

f Acts xxii. 3. " The perfect manner," [**g<Gs<«yj, 
that is, " the accuracy" or " strictness." At 
c. xxvi. 5. xofloc rviV uy.p&ssoltw «/gg?<y, is translated, 
" after the most straitest sect." 

% Ac is xxvi. 5. 



CHAPTER IV, 195 

4 4 the righteousness which is of the !aw j blame- 
" less 

Yet he acknowledged^ that he was " the 
44 chief of sinners." 

There was an interval of upwards of thirty 
7e :rs between the time at which Saul, " breath- 
* 4 ing out threatenings and slaughter against 
4( the disciples, made havock of the churchy/' 
and the time at which St Paul made this ac- 
knowledgement to his friend Timothy. 

The labours and the sufferings which that 
good man had undergone in the cause of Christ, 
and for the sake of the brethren, were great 5 
yet all that he had done and suffered could not 
reconcile him to himself, or make him overlook 
what he had been. 

w Many of the saints/' says he in another 
place, " did I shut up in prison — and when 
* 4 they were put to death, I gave my voice 
€i against them ; and I punished them oft in 
u every synagogue, and compelled them to 
Ci blaspheme 

* Philip, iii. 6. 

j- Acts viiL 3. \ ix. 1. The phrases, Vn efime&v 
mttziMs kui (pcva. and iXvf^sanTo t>jv &cx.Xii<rixv 9 have an 
energy in the original, which the translation, " breath- 
44 ing out threatenings and slaughter," and " made 
" havock of the church," does not express. 

% Acts xxvl. 10. 11. This word " blaspheme," 
[$A#firfij t *&g/»,] may be illustrated from a passage in 



196 CHAPTER IT. 

Not only was he active in procuring the 
imprisonment of the disciples, in concurring 
with the popular cry against them, and in using 
them ill, even when they were engaged in the 
• :, v - r.n oSces of religion j but he also forced, 
or attempted to force them to revile Christ. 

Killed with the recollection of all these things, 
St Paul said, " I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, 
*'* who hath enabled me, for that he counted 
* 4 me faithful, putting me into the ministry ; 
* 4 who was before a blasphemer,, and a perse- 
** : cut or, and injurious. But I obtained mercy, 
" because I did it ignorantly in unbelief : And 
*f the grace of our Lord was exceeding abun- 
" dant, with faith, and love, which is in Christ 
** Jesus. This is a faithful saying, and worthy 
" of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into 
£< the world to save' sinners j of whom I am the 
" chief. Howbeit, for this cause I obtained 

the Martyrdom of Polycarp, § 10. EyKipiw ez 
a.\$'J7r&7>i k»i teywTcg, d^oron, icon glttoXvoj o~V Xc.oopy^cv 
tom Xcifov' TlokvKcCPTrot i(pr h Oyoownct, ftxt e| irk 

ercci Toy fiao-iXtce. us*, rov c-mwtx, pz \ u And when the 
64 Proconsul still urged him, saying, swear, [by the 
44 fortune of Caesar], and I will set thee free ; remie 
" Christ j Polycarp thus spake : These fourscore 
H and six years serve I him, and he has never 
" wronged me 5 how then can I blaspheme my King 
44 and my Saviour ?" Remains of Christian Anti- 
quity, v. i. 12. 



CHAPTER IV. 197 

u mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might 
M shew forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to 
u them which should hereafter believe on him 
" to life everlasting # ." 

If then Mr Gibbon meant to place St Paul 
among those who, before their conversion to 
Christianity, were " abandoned sinners," he did 
injustice to the character of the most candid of 
men. 

Mr Gibbon says, that " those persons who, 
u in the world, had followed, though in an 
'* imperfect manner, the dictates of benevolence 
44 and propriety, derived such a calm satisfac- 
44 tion from the opinion of their own rectitude, 
" as rendered them much less susceptible of the 
44 emotions — which have given birth to so ma- 
" ny wonderful conversions." 

* 1 Tim. i. 12. — 16. " Injurious," [yZgifn*}* 
might be paraphrased, " one who added insult to 
" injury. " When St Paul said, that he persecuted 
the brethren " ignorantly in unbelief," sv 
aniftct'], he did not mean, that he was in a situation 
which excluded him from the knowledge of the 
truth. It is more probable, that he alluded to the 
words of our Lord, Luke xxiii. 34. " Father, for- 
" give them, for they know not what they do," 
[ilar^, u$z$ ccvTotg' a ytc^ otclxc-i ri Tretxct,'] " as St 
" Peter did on another occasion, when he said, And 
u now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye 
" did iV f w Acts iii. 17. See ail this better explained, 
Hurd. Serm. vol. ii. serm. vii. 

R 3 



198 CHAPTER IV. 

It has been already observed, in passing, that 
this is not applicable to the Jews, who, when 
our Lord appeared upon earth, were looking 
earnestly for " the hope and consolation of 
" Israel # ; and it would have been strange 
indeed, if " abandoned sinners" alone, or es- 
pecially persons of such a character, had search- 
ed the Scriptures at that time, and compared 
what was said of the Messiah in them, with 
what Jesus taught and did. 

The Heathens, who were satisfied with their 
own rectitude, because they had followed the 
dictates of benevolence in an imperfect manner , 
could hardly have aimed at that Christian per- 
fection which Mr Gibbon admires and applauds. 

If Epicureans enjoyed calm satisfaction, with- 
out believing in Providence ; and Stoics, with- 
out having any certain and consistent notions 
of a future state and the numerous tribe of 
Sceptics, without knowing what to believe at 
all ; they would, no doubt, be ill disposed for 
receiving, from Jewish fishermen and tent-ma- 
kers, a system of faith, founded on the principle 
of a Providence, and on the assurance of im- 
mortality. 

Such were the learned and the eminent among 
the Heathens in the earliest days of the church $ 



* Acts xxviii. 20. Luke il 25. 



CHAPTER IV. 19$ 

and, as we may well imagine, few of them be- 
came converts to the Christian religion. 

But let us examine the case of persons in the 
middle and lower ranks of life ; for it is certain 
that the Heathens who, in the apostolical age 
embraced Christianity, were generally of that 
sort. The question is, Whether, before their 
conversion, they were worse men than the 
other Heathens who rejected the gospel ? If 
they were not, Mr Gibbon's argument from 
the reason of the thing may be laid aside, to- 
gether with his theory of emotions. 

Julian indeed affirms on this subject, what 
Mr Gibbon seems to suppose, and he gives St 
Paul for his authority , but he makes a little 
alteration in the words of the Apostle, and 
quotes him as having said, " such ye were," 
instead of " such were some of you 

Although all the Corinthian converts to 
whom St Paul addresses himself, had been guilty 
of some one cr other of the sins that he men- 
tions, it would not follow, that they were worse 
men than those who rejected the gospel. 

The profligacy of the Heathens in the apo- 
stolical age was much more enormous than 
some people know, or at least are inclined to. 
confess. 

* 1 Cor. vl. 11. Kca rctvrcc tm$ )jt*. — Yuu$ Tci&rti 
sire. Cyril, adv, Julian vii. 24-5. edit. Spanheim, 



200 CHAPTER IV. 

Several of the things mentioned by St Paul 
belonged to the very profession of Paganism, 
such as, those superstitious and impure rites 
which come under the general name of 
6t idolatry." 

Other things also, which occur in the same 
passage, had too much countenance from the 
popular religion - 3 were practised, without re^ 
serve, by the people # ^ and, to say no more, 
were connived at by the magistrate.- 

Corinth, for example, was vicious beyond the 
measure of vice in great ciiies. Sirabo relates, 
that the temple of Venus at Corinth was ex- 
ceedingly rich, so as to have in property more 
than a thousand harlots, the slaves [or ministers] 
of the temple, donatives made to the goddess 
by persons of both sexes. Hence, says he, the 
city was crowded, and became wealthy f. 

* Here let me remark 5 that an expression in Mr 
Gibbon's work, not altogether foreign to the pre- 
sent subject;, appears exceedingly reprehensible. 
He says, with what justice I mean not to inquire, 
that " of thr first fifteen Roman Emperors, Claudius 
" was the only one %vhose taste in love was entirely 
" correct i. 93. n. 40. This is said of an Empe- 
ror who was very lewd, and who lived in incest. As 
to the others, it seems their taste in love was net 
entirely correct. What a strange circumlocution ! 

■f* To re tyis A^oitrns hgev xrv 7rha<rtov v^||ey, aa"n 

tXU%$ V) ^"hixq hgO^xXiSS tKtKTVTO ST#/£4fS, kq XVi7iQtCtiV 



CHAPTER IV. 201 

The orgies of Bacchus made part of what 
Mr Gibbon calls the theerful religion of Pagan- 
ism, i. 553. ; and they would have afforded a 
decent apology for drunkenness, had the Greeks 
required any thing of that nature i but it is 
probable that those rites, as well as many others, 
were formed on the manners of the people ; 
and that, if the vulgar Greeks had not been 
drunkards, their priests and legislators would 
not have made drunkenness an ingredient in 
the vulgar religion. 

No one who is acquainted with what may be 
termed the national character of the Greeks, 
will deny that they were " revilers." While 

TToXv&ftXiiTd i vre>.i;, y,otl inter t^irt. 1. Vlll. p. 581. 
To this it is that Stephanus Byzantinus refers. Kat 
KOPIN0IAZOMAI. to itciipuv* e&7ro tmv &v Ko^iv&cj 
iTcft£ut, k. r. i. De Urbibus, v. KOPIN0O2. Hence 
also the proverbial expression, * A Kc^Qix itiKcts, k. t. 
i. and the public prayers in that city, " for the in- 
crease of the number of harlots." From a brothel 
of such magnitude, maintained by the piety of the 
people, universal corruption of manners must have 
ensued : and although that Corinth which the A- 
postle saw might have exhibited but a poor epitome 
of her more ancient debaucheries \ yet climate, situ- 
ation, and religion being considered, we must ac- 
knowledge the propriety of his exhortation, tpivytrt 
ryjv 7rr^vuuv, 1 Cor. vi. 18. And this will lead us to 
remark, that his transition in that chapter from one 
subject to another is not so abrupt as at first sight 
we may be apt to imagine it. 



202 CHAPTER IV* 

they were free, or supposed themselves to be 
free, this intemperance of language resembled 
liberty ; and their conquerors, when they de- 
prived them of every thing else, left them in 
full possession of their petulant humour # . 

From this humour it is that we can account 
for a singular circumstance in their history, that 
the Cynics, a sect of philosophers, with small 
pretensions to knowledge, and none to virtue, 
were harboured and tolerated, and even en- 
couraged, in Greece, during a long succession 
of ages. 

Mr Gibbon says, that the sudden emotions of 
shame and terror had a wonderful effect in the 
converting of men, and especially of women, 
to the Christian religion. 

It must, however, be obvious to every one, 
that this implies some antecedent knowledge of 
Christianity, and belief in its truth : for as the 
Heathens in general practised, without shame, 
many things inconsistent with evangelical purity 5 
it behoved the converts from Heathenism to 

* This humour was very ancient. Homer, it is 
probable, spake the language of the people } and he 
makes his gods and goddesses use great liberties in 
their familiar conversation, — It would be vain to at- 
tempt to make a collection of all the words which 
express intemperance of speech in the Greek lan- 
guage, such as, <p/AoAo^0£0£, fiet£vyXwffo-os 9 KiK^cy/Wvo-cz, 
QXxcrtpYjUos, %VQ-(pY, { ucs y xxjcef'tpos) &C. &C. 



CHAPTER IV. 203 

iearn that such practices were shameful, before 
they became ashamed of them. 

Neither is it likely that emotions of terror, 
of terror " new and unexpected/' as Mr Gib- 
bon elsewhere expresses himself, could have 
been raised without a previous persuasion of a 
judgement to come, and of the danger of de- 
laying repentance. 

And thus we may conclude, that faith was 
the ground-work of conversion in those Hea- 
thens who, at the promulgation of the gospel, 
embraced Christianity : and we may also be 
enabled to form a right estimate of an hypothe- 
sis mentioned by Mr Gibbon in this passage, 
and more largely explained in another, where 
he says, that ^ the careless Polytheist was as- 
<; sailed by new and unexpected terrors, against 
ii which neither his priests nor his philosophers 
u could afford him any certain protection 
and that " his fears might assist his faith and 
" his reason ; and if he could once persuade 
« himself to suspect that the Christian religion 
** might possibly be true, it became an easy task 
" to convince him that it was the safest and most 

prudent party that he could possibly em- 
« brace i. 567. 

* See Matth. xiii. 20. 21. where a more favour- 
able case is put, but with a less favourable inference. 



20-i CHAPTER IV. 

Mr Gibbon adds the reason which induced 
the profligate rabble,, on becoming Christians, 
to become remarkably devout and zealous in 
good works. — His solution of this supposed 
phoenomenon is short and simple. u The de- 
4i sire of perfection/' says he, ff became the 
" ruling passion of their soul ; and it is will 
t€ known j that, while reason embraces a cold 
" mediocrity, our passions hurry us, with rapid 
" violence, over the space which lies between 
44 the most opposite extremes." 

Different men will incline to graduate the 
moral weather-glass in different ways j and 
some, on reflecting that there is much to fear 
and much to hope, may be apt to remove reason 
at a greater distance from the freezing pointy 
than " cold mediocrity" seems to be placed. 

Mr Gibbon must allow me to deny, that it 
is well known that our passions hurry us rapid- 
ly, from irreligion to perfect devotion, or from 
profligacy to perfect virtue ; for experience, 
to say nothing of revelation, assures us of the 
contrary. 

Let me not be understood to deny that there 
are instances of men who have at once, from a 
life of irreligion and profligacy, attained to as 
perfect devotion and virtue as are attainable on 
this side the grave. I agree with Mr Gibbon, 
that such conversions are " wonderful but 



CHAPTER IV. 205 

he ought not to ascribe them to our passions j 
for then they would not be " wonderful" to 
men who, like Mr Gibbon, can analyse the pas- 
sions, and trace natural motives to their corre- 
sponding effects. 

The second motive ** which might naturally 
" render the lives of the primitive Christians 
« much purer and more austere than those of 
" their Pagan contemporaries," is said by Mr 
Gibbon to have been " the desire of supporting 
" the reputation of the society in which they 
u were engaged, and their own reputation, as 
" connected with that society." 

But unless the Christians had been incited to 
virtue by other motives than a regard for their 
own reputation, and for that of the society to 
which they belonged, the consequences, with 
respect to morals and behaviour, would not have 
been either 'uiiversal or permanent. 

The philosophers who appeared in the Hea- 
then world had those motives, joined to an ex- 
cessive desire after fame and yet they were 
not such men as Mr Gibbon acknowledges the 
primitive Christians to have been. 

Jesus foretold, and the prediction was soon 
accomplished, that his disciples should be revil- 
ed and persecuted for his sake *. 

* " Blessed are they which are persecuted for 
" righteousness sake ; for theirs is the kingdom of 

s 



206 chapter iv. 

Reputation could not have been the object of 
men who were taught by their Lord to look for 
obloquy as the appendage of their profession. 

We must therefore search for some other 
cause, which enabled those Christians to be 
more excellent than their neighbours. 

Their motive to the practice of virtue, sepa- 
rate from the motives commonly termed natu- 
ral, was, obedience to the lawgiver whose au- 
thority they recognised or, in scriptural lan- 
guage, faith in God the Father, and in his Son 
the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Mr Gibbon, not satisfied with slightly men- 
tioning two motives which contributed to the 
purity of the lives of the primitive Christians, 
subjoins a supplement, accounting, in a natural 
way, for their virtues. 

Some of the readers of the Decline and Fall 
have censured this Supplement as uncandid, and 
even invidious. 

The primitive Christians, as Mr Gibbon ad- 
mits, were chaste, temperate, and ceconomical ; 
" but then," says he, " their serious and se- 

" heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall revile 
" you, and persecute yon, and shall say all manner 
" of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice, 
" and be exceeding glad : for great is your reward in 
" heaven : for so persecuted they the prophets which 
" were before you." Matt. v. 10.-12. 



CHAPTER IV. 207 

« questered life, averse to the gay luxury of the 
w age, inured them to chastity, temperance, ceco- 
« nomy, and all the sober and domestic virtues." 
i. 574*. 

They were remarkable for integrity and fair 
dealing. But as they were generally of some 
trade or profession, it was incumbent on them 
to practise such virtues, in order to remove the 
suspicions that an appearance of sanctity is apt 
to create. 

They were humble, meek, and patient, being 
exercised in the habits of those virtues by their 
contempt of the world. 

The more they were persecuted, the more 
closely they adhered to each other. 

Their mutual charity, and unsuspecting con- 
fidence, have been remarked by infidels, and 
were too often abused by perfidious friends f . 

* We might add, that their mutual chanty is ac- 
knowledged, and their unsuspecting confidence ridi- 
culed, by the Atheistical buffoon, Lucian. Mr Gib- 
bon says, p. 574. " The philosopher Peregrinus, of 
" whose life and death Lucian has left us so enter- 
" taining an account, imposed for a long time on 
" the credulous simplicity of the Christians of Asia." 
It is impossible to determine any thing as to the real 
character of this Peregrinus while he retained his 
senses. This only we know, that he became mad, 
and burnt himself alive in the sight of all Greece, 
at the Olympian games. Gellius, who knew him 
well, praises his judgment and equanimity, and say? t 



£08 CHAPTER IV. 

And now, let us review the virtues of the 
primitive Christians, while with philosophise! im- 
partiality we trace effects to their causes. 

The primitive Christians, from their serious 
and sequestered life, were chaste, temperate, 
frugal, and inured to all sober and domestic 
virtues. 

From prudence and situation they were of 
strict integrity, and perfectly fair in their deal- 
ings. 

From contempt of the world, they learnt to 
be humble, meek, and patient. 

Persecution bound them closer in friendship 
to one another. 

Their mutual charity has been remarked even 

that his discourses were profitable, and delivered in 
a seemly manner. [ ;i Philosophum, nomine Pere- 
i4 grinum, cui postea cognomentum Proteus factum 
M est, virum gravem at que const an tern vidimus, quum 
" Atnenis essemus, diver santem in quodam tugurio 
" extra urbem j quumque ad eum frequenter venti- 
" taremus, multa hercle dicere earn utiSter et ho- 
" neste audivimus."] Noct.Att.xii.il. Gellius 
could not have described a chief teacher among the 
Stoics in higher strains of commendation. So, if 
Peregrinus was a knave, he imposed on the creduli- 
ty of Gellius, a Heathen grammarian, no less than on 
the credulity of the Christians of Asia 5 who, to say 
the worst of them, had not the gift of trying the 
spirits of men, and through aw excess of charity, 
were led to think more favourably of Peregrinus 
than he deserved, 



CHAPTER IV. 20$ 

by infidels ; and their excess in that virtue laid 
them open to the frauds of bad men. 

If we thus employ ourselves in accounting for 
every virtue practised by individuals, it is much 
to be feared that, in the end, we may lose that 
amiable quality of Christian benevolence, which 
" thinketh no evil." 

Jesus has left a more humane rule to his 
friends. "We are to know men bv their fruits ; 
we are to judge of purpose by actions : and in- 
deed any further knowledge is too high for 
us. 

Here it will not escape observation, that Mr 
Gibbon, without intending to draw a very fa- 
vourable likeness of the primitive Christians^ 
has made Christian principles the ground-work 
of many of their virtues. 

Thus he says, that " the serious and seques- 
< c tered life of the primitive Christians, averse 
H to the gay luxury of the age, inured them to 
« chastity, temperance, oeconomy, and all the 
" sober and domestic virtues." 

Now, the epithet " serious," is of more con- 
sequence than it may at first sight appear. For 
a sequestered life, averse " to the gay luxury of 
« the age," is not necessarily attended by " all 
H the sober and domestic virtues." The reverse 
of all such virtues may be found among men 
who have never heard of the gay luxury of the 

S a 



£10 CHAPTER IV. 

age. But, " a serious life/' or a life led with 
an habitual regard to the nature and conse- 
quences of action, may to a certain degree pro- 
duce the virtues of which Mr Gibbon speaks ; 
and thus the meaning will be, that such virtues 
are the consequence of Christian watchfulness : 
an important truth, and greatly to the honour 
of Christianity ! 

Again, Mr Gibbon says, that from contempt of 
the world the Christians learnt to be humble* 
meek, and patient. 

The phrase " contempt cf the world" is am- 
biguous : it may signify " contempt of the su- 
" perfluities and vanity of the world," or " con- 
u tempt cf all sublunary things." But whether 
it be understood in the one sense or the other, 
there is no doubt that some sects among the 
Heathen philosophers professed as great con- 
tempt of the world as any of the primitive 
Christians ever did \ and yet their speculations 
and systems were of no eScacy in rendering 
them humble and meek \ and we may oppose 
Christian patience to tHe boasted apathy of the 
Stoics 3 without any dread of seeing our reli- 
gion depreciated by the contrast. 

It was on Christian principles that the primi- 
tive Christians learnt to be humble, meek, and 
patient : for they remembered the words of 
their Lord, « Whoso shall exalt himself shall 



CHAPTER IV. 211 

« be abased, and he that shall humble himself 
« shall be exalted." — « Blessed are the meek." 
— w Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in 
« heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls." — 
" He that endureth to the end shall be sa- 
« ved *." 

One should have thought that Mr Gibbon, 
after having treated of repentance and reputa- 
tion, and analysed the Christian virtues, and ac- 
counted for them all, had exhausted whatever 
he meant to say cn the fourth secondary cause 
of the rapid and remarkable growth of Christi- 
anity. 

Yet to the disquisition concerning the " Vxr- 
" tues of the primitive Christians," a large mis- 
cellany of unconnected observations is subjoin- 
ed, under these general heads, " Morality of the 
" Fathers j" " Principles of human nature 
" The primitive Christians condemn pleasure 
" and luxury " Their sentiments concerning 
" marriage and chastity •," and " Their aver- 
" sion to the business of war and govern- 
" ment." 

* Matth. xxiii. 12. 5 v. 5. J xi. 29. \ x. 22. Va- 
rious other texts to the like purpose might have been 
quoted from the other Evangelists. Many passages 
in the Epistles are merely a commentary on such 
texts, and ought to be considered as allusions to 
evangelical history. 



212 CHAPTER IV. 

It would have been better, and more scienti- 
fical, had Mr Gibbon, instead of deviating 
into collateral inquiries, adhered to that me- 
thod which he at first chose to prescribe to him- 
self. 

The purpose of this work is to examine the 
five secondary causes assigned by Mr Gibbon 
for the rapid and remarkable progress of Chri- 
stianity \ and therefore I might be pardoned 
for declining to follow him where-ever his fancy 
or genius leads ; yet there is such a variety of 
curious and interesting matter in his miscellane- 
ous observations, that I cannot altogether pass 
them over in silence. 

Let it be remarked in general, that the chief 
circumstances mentioned in this miscellany seem 
to have had a natural tendency to retard, in- 
stead of accelerating the triumphs of Christian- 
ity over the passions, prejudices, and opinions 
of mankind. 

Neither is this all : for on comparing his 
supplementary disquisitions with his argument 
on the fourth secondary cause, it will be found-, 
that Mr Gibbon contradicts not only experi- 
ence, but himself. 

Thus, for example, he says, " The Bishops 
" and Doctors of the church — carried the du- 
« ties of self-mortification, of purity, and of pa- 
« tience, to a height which it is scarcely possible 



CHAPTER IV. 213 

« to attain^ and much less to preserve.— A 

" doctrine so extraordinary and so sublime, 
u must inevitably command the veneration of 
« the people *, but it was ill calculated to obtain 
** the suffrage of those worldly philosophers 
" who, in the conduct of this transitory life, 
" consult only the feelings of nature, and the 
" interest of society." i. 575. 

Here the Christian teachers are put in full 
possession of the veneration of the people \ and 
yet in the very next page Mr Gibbon seems to 
ascribe to the Christians at large a disposition that 
would be rejected by the common consent of man- 
kind ; and he says, in unequivocal terms, that 
K it was not in this world that the primitive 
« Christians were desirous of making them- 
" selves either agreeable or useful If so, 
they could not remain in possession of the ve- 
neration of the people. 

Let us turn back from p. 576 to p. 574. and 
we shall see that the Christians, no less than the 
philosophers themselves, did " in this transito- 
" ry life consult the interest of society." 

Their care for the interest of society, it must 
be admitted, did not lead them " to conceal the 
" sentiments of an Atheist under the sacerdo- 

* The words, " in this world," are redundant ; 
for the primitive Christians could not be desirous of 
making themselves usejul in another world, 



214 CHAPTER IV. 

« tal robes, or to approach, with the same in- 
" ward contempt and the same external reve- 
« rence, the altars of the Lybian, the Olympian, 
« and the Capitoline Jupiter," i. 38. s yet they 
were chaste, temperate, and oeconomical, and 
inured to all the sober and domestic virtues. 
They were of the strictest integrity, and per- 
fectly fair in their dealings : they were exerci- 
sed in the habits of humility, meekness, and 
patience : and the infidels themselves remarked 
their mutual charity and unsuspecting confi- 
dence. So says Mr Gibbon and the reader 
will judge, whether they, or the Heathen phi- 
losophers and politicians, as described by Mr 
Gibbon, best consulted the feelings of nature 
and the interest of society. 

The section, having this general title, Mora- 
lity of the Fathers, is introduced with these 
words : u It is a very honourable circumstance 
" for the morals of the primitive Christians, 
" that even their faults, or rather errors, were 
« derived from an excess of virtue," i. 575. 

This observation, for its amiable candour, de- 
serves our applause ; and had Mr Gibbon al- 
ways written in such a strain, his only critics 
would have been the half-learned and superfi- 
cial cavillers at the Christian religion. 

But he proceeds thus : " The Bishops and 
tt Doctors of the church, whose evidence at- 



chapter nr. 215 
rt tests, and whose authority might influence the 
" professions, the principles, and even the prac- 
* tice of their contemporaries, had studied the 
" Scriptures with less skill than devotion j and 
" they often received, in the most literal sense, 
" those rigid precepts of Christ and the Apo- 
" sties, to which the prudence of succeeding 
" commentators has applied a looser and more 
" figurative mode of interpretation." 

" Bishops and Doctors of the church" is a 
comprehensive denomination indeed ! Under it, 
all the Christian writers, for I know not how 
many centuries, might be ranged ; and accord- 
ingly M. Barbeyrac, in his very judicious treat- 
ise* De la morale des Peres, begins his inquiry 
with Justin Martyr, and ends it with Gregory, 
surnamed the Great ; but, as Mr Gibbon speaks 
of primitive Christians, and as he treats of the 
rapid progress of Christianity, it may be presu- 
med that he limits his remark to the " Bishops 
" and Doctors" who wrote before the civil es- 
tablishment of the Christian religion. 

I mean not to enter into the noted contro- 
versy respecting the morality of the Fathers ; or, 
as Mr Gibbon chuses to call them, « the Bishops 
and Doctors of the church f j w neither, indeed, 

* It is so called by Mr Gibbon, Decline and Fall, 
i. 575. 

f Every impartial reader who has net had occa- 



216 CHAPTER IV. 

has Mr Gibbon treated fully of that subject : 
he only mentions the fathers as persons whose 
evidence attests, and whose authority might in* 
fluence the professions, the principles, and even 
the practice of their contemporaries - y and 
thence he takes occasion to speak of certain 
tenets of theirs which he supposes might have 
been adopted by the church in general. 

Here some observations naturally present 
themselves. 

Of all the Christian writers who lived in the 
first three centuries, Tertullian is he whose works 
afford the most numerous examples of crude and 
wild fancies : and no wonder \ for the seeds of 
fanaticism seem to have been always in him, 
which at length sprung up, and produced abun- 
dant fruits. Every one knows that Tertullian, 
having adopted the opinions of Montanus, be- 
came as contemptible a visionary as ever disgra- 
ced genius and learning. 

Some men have attempted to draw the line 
between the works of the orthodox and of the 
heretical Tertullian and for this they had their 

si on to peruse the preface to the Julian of Bishop 
Warburton, will think himself beholden to me for 
pointing out to him a manly and candid inquiry into 
this interesting subject, by one who was no slave to 
systems, and popular opinions, and popular preju- 
dices. 



CHAPTER IV. Sfl 

:ons, unnecessary to be explained at pre- 
sent : but even in his earliest works, the traces 
of a distempered imagination are to be found. 

Such, however, is the man on whose evidence 
Mr Gibbon chiefly relies for illustrating the 
professions, the principles, and even the prac- 
tice of the primitive Christians ; and he has 
made more quotations from the writings of Ter- 
tullian than from the writings of all the other 
« Bishops and Doctors" of the first three centu- 
ries : so that, in the work of Mr Gibbon, Ter- 
tullian appears like the foreman of the Christian 
world, delegated to speak for all the brethren 
from the days of the Apostles until that time 
at which Christianity was established by law, 
for those who lived after him, as well as for 
those who lived before him, or were his con- 
temporaries. 

In his celebrated fifteenth chapter, Mr Gibbon 
frequently quotes Tertullian, yet he hardly ever 
refers to Cyprian for proof of the principles and 
practice of the Christians. It is odd, that as 
they lived in the same country, and were near- 
ly contemporaries, he should have relied so lit- 
tle on the testimony of the bishop and martyr, 
and so much on that of the Montanist. 

Further, the expression used by Mr Gibbon 
is singularly cautious, though I am far from 
saying that there is any studied ambiguity in it. 

T 

1 & v; 



218 CHAPTER IV, 

Instead of asserting that the authority of the 
« Bishops and Doctors" did influence, he ob- 
serves that it might influence the professions, 
principles, and practice of their contempora- 
ries. 

Should it be proved, that the primitive Chri- 
stians thought and acted for themselves, not- 
withstanding the authority of those " Bishops 
« and Doctors," Mr Gibbon might say, that he 
never asserted the contrary •, for that he only 
spake of what might have happened, not of what 
did. 

No weighty superstructure can be established 
on such slight foundations for it still remains 
unexplained, whether the authority of which 
Mr Gibbon speaks, had influence and if it had, 
what was the extent of that influence ? 

Mr Gibbon speaks of an authority which 
might influence contemporaries ; but he seems 
not aware that the word contemporaries must be 
limited to the Christians of the country in 
which his " Bishops and Doctors" lived, or at 
least to the Christians who were acquainted 
with the writings and tenets of those guides, 
and that it cannot be applied to Christians at 
large. For example, although the authority of 
Tertullian should have had influence on the 
principles and practice of the Christians in Af- 
rica who were his contemporaries, it would be 



CHAPTER IT. 



extravagant to suppose, that it had influence in 
Palestine, Syria, and Asia Minor, where the 
writings of Tertullian were not generally- 
known, and could only be understood by few. 

Besides, it is plain, that the authority of Ter- 
tullian, on whose evidence Mr Gibbon seems 
chiefly to rely, did not influence the principles 
and practice of his contemporaries *. 

* M. Barbeyrac, having successfully ridiculed 
many of the whimsies of Tertullian, thought it worth 
his pains to expose the bad taste of some of the 
Christian writers who are said to have admired the 
writings of that African heretic. His words are : 
" On scait cependant, quel cas ont fait de lui d'au- 
" tres peres, et sur tout St Cyphien, qui ne passoit 
u point de jour, sans lire quel que chose de Tertullian, 
* 4 et qui disoit a son copiste, en lui demandant les 
€i ouvrages de ce pere : donne% mat mon maistre % 
cVst ce que St Jerome dit tenir du copiste meme. 
" CataL Script. Eccles. p. 284. t. i. edit. Basil. 
" J537.'' Here there is a pleasant anachronism, 
which would have afforded matter of exultation to 
M. Barbeyrac had any of the fathers been guilty of 
it. The copist or secretary of Cyprian could hardly 
have officiated in that capacity before the age of 
eighteen or twenty, and could not have met with Je- 
rom sooner than 120 years, reckoned from the death 
of Cyprian *, so that he must have been about one 
hundred and forty years of age when he communica- 
ted this anecdote to Jerom ! It happens, however, 
that Jerom tells a very different story. His words 
are : " Vidi ego quemdam Paulum Concoraias, quod 
" oppidum Italiae est, senem, qui se beati Cypriani 
a jam grandis aetatis notarium, quum ipse admodum 



-20 CHAPTER IT. 

This might appear from the words of Mr 
Gibbon himself, wiio quotes Tertullian as af- 
firming that the « Christians" refused to take 
any active part in the « military defence of the 

empire and « that it was impossible that, 
" without renouncing a more sacred duty, they 
" could assume the character of soldiers/ 5 
i. 580. ; and yet, in the very same page, Mr 
Gibbon says, " Tertullian suggests to them the 
u expedient of deserting 

u esset adofescens, Romae vidisse diceret, referreque 
u sibi solitum nunquarn Cyprianum absque Tertul- 
" Hani lectione unam diem praeteriisse, ac sibi crebro 
" dicere, da Magistrurn, Tertullianum videlicet sig- 
" niiicans." The reader will observe, that Jerom does 
not tell so improbable a story as that he himself had 
conversed with the copist of Cyprian \ he only says, 
that an old man reported, that when he was very 
young, he heard another old man say, that Cyprian 
often called Tertullian the Master, and frequently 
read Ills works. Here, then, there is nothing more 
than the hearsay of a hearsay, a thing altogether 
different from what M. Barbeyrac relates. 

* The words of Tertullian are : " Aut deseren- 
; ' dum statim sit, ut a multis actum, aut omnibus 
u modis cavillandum, ne quid adversus Deum com- 
fc< mittatnr, quae nec cx militia permittuntur, aut no- 
u vissime perpetiendum pro Deo, quod seque fides 
44 pagana condixit.^ d. Corona, c. ii. The sentence 
is obscure, and its just reading is not settled. See 
the note of Rigaliius. This much, however, is 
plain, that Tertullian means to point out the incon- 
veniences and temptations which attend Christians 



CHAPTER IV. 221 

But, to this purpose, Tertullian's own evi- 
dence is still more apposite. He says, w How 
" can a Christian become a soldier, or even an 
« officer of justice, since the Lord has deprived 
« him of his sword ? for although military men 
« came to John the Baptist, and received in- 
" sructions from him as to their conduct, and 
« although a centurion embraced the gospel ; 
« yet, afterwards, the Lord, by disarming Pe- 
" ter, disarmed every soldier # ." Such was the 
opinion of Tertullian. Nevertheless, the prac- 
tice of Christians in his age was different ; for 
it appears from the treatise de Corona Miliiis^ 
that many Christians served in the Roman ar- 
mies and again, in his Apology, he says, " we 

ivho become soldiers \ and the first mentioned by 
him is, that of their being induced to desert or quit 
the service \ so that he does by no means " suggest 
" the expedient of deserting." 

* " Ouomodo autem bellabit, imo quomcdo etiam 
" in pace mill tab it, sine gladio, quern Dominus ab- 
" stulit ? nam etsi adierant milites ad johannem, et 
" formam observations acceperant, si etiam centurio 
" crediderat : omnem postea militem Dominus, in 
** Petro exarmando, discinxit." d. Idololatria, c. 19. 
M. Barbeyrac explains in pace to signify " quand 
" les Chretiens ne sont exposez a aucune perseeu- 
" tion;" Morale des Peres, c. 6. § 6. : and no doubt 
pax has sometimes the sense of " rest from persecu- 
" tion ;*? but I have chosen to follow the paraphrase 
©f Rigaltius. 

T S 



TZZ CHAPTER IT. 

" are but of yesterday ; arid yet we have filled 
" your camps ?" and, « we fight along with 
« you 

" There are/' says Mr Gibbon, « two very 

" natural propensities, which we may distinguish 
i( in the most virtuous dispositions, the love of 
" pleasure, and the love of action. If the for- 
" mer is refined by art and learning, improved 
« by the charms of social intercourse, and cor- 
€C rected by a just regard to oeconomy, to health, 
S( and to reputation, it is productive of the great- 
s' est part of the happiness of private lifef . The 
S( love of action is a principle of a much stronger 
" and more doubtful nature. It often leads to 
*' anger, to ambition, and to revenge ; but when 
6C it is guided by the sense of propriety and be- 
* nevoience, it becomes the parent of every vir- 

* u Hesterni sumus, et vestra omnia implevimus, 
« — -castra ipsa — vobiscum nrifitamusj" Apol. c. 37, 
42. In this there may be some rhetorical exaggera- 
tion, which, however, will not affect my argument. 

f This description seems vague. Suppose one 
should say, " Artifex quidam eruditus arnica clan? 
" culum utitur, hilari, faceta, sana itidcm ac parvo 
" parabili j ea demura vita est beatior." Surely 
this does not come up to the notion of what " is 
" productive of the greatest part of the happiness of 
f* private life although we have ariifex eruditus, 
[art and learning], hilaris et faceta, [social inter- 
course], parvo potability [ceconomy], sana, [health],, 
and cianculum, [reputation.] 



CHAPTER IT. 225 

« tue ; and, if those virtues are accompanied 
« with equal abilities, a family, a state, or an 
" empire, may be indebted for their safety and 
« prosperity to the undaunted courage of a sin- 
" gle man. To the love of pleasure we may, 
" therefore, ascribe most of the agreeable, to the 
" love of action we may attribute most of the 
" useful and respectable qualifications. The 
" character in which both the one and the other 
" should be united and harmonized, would seem 
« to constitute the most perfect idea of human 
" nature. The insensible and inactive disposi- 
" tion, which should be supposed alike desti- 
« tute of both, would be rejected by the com- 
« mon consent of mankind, as utterly incapable 
** of procuring any happiness to the individual, 
" or any public benefit to the world. But it 
" was not in this world that the primitive Chri- 
« stians were desirous of making themselves ei- 
« ther agreeable or useful." i. 575. 

All this is delivered in a solemn, philosophi- 
cal, and didactic style ; and we must presume, 
that to the author himself it is perfectly intelli- 
gible, but to one of his readers it is not. 

Mr Gibbon observes, that when « the love of 
« pleasure is refined by art and learning, impro- 
u ved by the charms of social intercourse, and 
« corrected by a just regard to ceconomy, to 
" health, and to reputation, it is productive of 



f24> CHAPTER IY. 

" the greatest part of the happiness of private 
« life. 5 ' 

"What does this love of pleasure imply ? Ac- 
cording to the description given of it by Mr 
Gibbon, before it can produce the greatest part 
of the happiness of private life, it must be re- 
filled, improved, and corrected. Hence, one might 
be apt to imagine, that a thing which becomes 
salutary only by such a process of refinement 
and correction, is, in itself, impure, and even 
noxious. This at least is plain, that, if prepared 
by Mr Gibbon's receipt, it is a composition too 
high-priced for the vulgar, who occupy most of 
the stations in private life. Art and learning 
are two of its ingredients and whatever may 
be the sense of the word art, it is certain that 
learning never was, and probably never will be a 
general acquirement ; and here we are taught a 
thing of which we should otherwise have*been 
ignorant, that " the greatest part of the happir 
" ness of private life lies without the reach of 
« the vulgar. 5 ' 

Mr Gibbon adds, " to the love of pleasure 
« we may therefore ascribe most of the agreeable 
« qualifications — the insensible — disposition, 
« which should be supposed — destitute of it 3 
M would be rejected by the common consent of 
« mankind, as utterly incapable of procuring any 
u happiness to the individual.— But it was xxot 



CHAPTER iv. £25 
W in M/> world that the primitive Christians 
« were desirous of making themselves agree- 
« able." 

The reader will observe that, in the long pe- 
riod from which these expressions are selected, 
Mr Gibbon has also introduced " the love of 
" action" as a propensity or principle \ and that 
he has treated of the effects of it, as well as of 
« the love of pleasure." But, although the 
blending them might ornament a period, the 
nature and consequences of each will be best 
understood when they are separately exami- 
ned. 

And here again it will not escape the attention 
of the reader, that Mr Gibbon, while treating 
of the virtues of the primitive Christians^ [the 
fourth secondary cause of the rapid progress of 
Christianity], ascribes to them an insensible dis- 
position, destitute of the love of pleasure, 
which would be rejected, by the common consent 
of mankind, as utterly incapable of procuring 
any happiness to the individual. 

Now, if the disposition of the primitive 
Christians was such as to be rejected by the com- 
mon consent of mankind^ why is it treated of 
among the secondary causes of the rapid pro- 
gress of Christianity ? 

The case of the primitive Christians, in being 
thus destitute of the love of pleasure, appears 



22$ CHAPTER IT. 

truly lamentable. Living, as they did, in the 
religion of love, they must have enjoyed the 
charms of social intercourse, so far as innocent; 
and Mr Gibbon himself informs us, that they 
had a just regard to oeconomy, to health, and 
to reputation ; these things, had the Christians 
been possessed of the love of pleasure, would 
have improved and corrected it, but as that prin- 
ciple was wanting, all their sober and domestic 
virtues could not render them agreeable in this 
world. 

Let us now examine the other great principle, 
which « is of a much stronger and more doubt- 
** ful nature *, the love of action." 

It is said, that " the love of action often leads 
i( to anger, to ambition, and to revenge ; but 
K when it is guided by the sense of propriety 
" and benevolence, it becomes the parent of 
« every virtue and if those virtues are accom- 
" panied with equal abilities, a family, a state, or 
*« an empire, may be indebted for their safety 

* The expression, " more doubtful," is not alto- 
gether accurate : for it had been already observed, 
that the love of pleasure, in order to its being made 
productive of the greatest part of the happiness of 
private life, must be refined, improved, and correct- 
ed ; so that it also, as well as the love of action, is 
of a very doubtful nature. Had Mr Gibbon, instead 
of " more doubtful," said, " still more doubtful," his; 
meaning would have been better expressed. 



CHAPTER IY. 227 

" and prosperity to the undaunted courage of a 
" single man — To the love of action, therefore, 
" we may attribute most of the useful and re- 
« spectable qualifications - 9 — the inactive dispo- 
«f sition, which should be supposed — destitute 
" of it, would be rejected by the common con- 
" sent of mankind, as utterly incapable of pro- 
« curing — any public benefit to the world. But 
« it was not in this world that the primitive 
" Christians were desirous of making them- 
" selves — useful." 

It matters not who was the inventor of this 
ingenious theory, which supposes " the love of 
" action" to be one of the great principles in 
the conduct of rational beings. 

A love of action is peculiarly discernible in 
children before they can act on rational princi- 
ples ; and the most restless child is, generally, 
the healthiest. This is owing to an instinct in- 
dependent of reason, and proceeding from the 
wise will of the Giver of all good •, and it has 
no more connexion with rational principles than 
the power of sight has, or the sense of feeling; 
and therefore we cannot, with any propriety, 
attribute u most of the useful and respectable 
" qualifications" to that species of the love of 
action. 

The immaterial and immortal spirit of man 
is always busy, unless its exertions be impeded 



228 CHAPTER IV. 

by some external or adventitious cause \ and 
hence it might be said, in a metaphorical sense, 
that the human soul loves action. Is that the 
meaning of Mr Gibbon ? and is that all ? 

I write under very great disadvantages, being 
unable to apprehend clearly the sense of the 
phrase u love of action/' any more than that of 
" the love of pleasure." 

It is said, that « the love of action, when 
« guided by the sense of benevolence, becomes 

the parent of every virtue." But since bene- 
volence is a virtue, how can the love of action, 
when guided by it, become its parent ? 

Mr Gibbon asserts, " that this " love of ac- 
€f tion" often leads to anger, to ambition, and to 
« revenge." Does « the love of action" lead a 
man to rail at his wife, beat his servants, un- 
dermine his rival in politics, or assassinate his 
enemy ? 

The inference drawn by Mr Gibbon from the 
union and harmony of the two principles might, 
at first view, appear to point at a discovery of 
their nature. " The character," says he, H in 
" which both the one and the other should be 
« united and harmonized, would seem to con- 
*5 stitute the most perfect idea of human na«* 
« ture." 

This might remind us of the character of 
that person who realised the most perfect idea 



CHAPTER IV, 229 

of human nature ; yet should I say of that per- 
son,, whom Mr Gibbon and I were early taught 
to look on as the great Exemplar ^ that the love of 
pleasure and the love of action were two great 
principles in his conduct, Mr Gibbon would 
justly charge me with a weak attempt to vilify 
gur Saviour. 

Unless in him> we cannot look for the most 
perfect idea of human nature, or, rather, for 
perfection exhibited in human nature. 

But let us review the most distinguished cha- 
racters of mere men, rough and very imperfect 
sketches at best of moral excellence , and then 
decide whether the love of pleasure and the 
love of action were the great principles in the 
conduct of Phocion, Epaminondas, and Marcus 
Antoninus of Alfred, the soldier, student, and 
legislator , of Bayard, termed Le Chevalier sans 
reproche } of the virtuous and gallant Sir Philip 
Sydney •, of La Nolie, whom, while he was en- 
gaged in the fiercest tumults of party, all par- 
ties applauded \ and of William the First, 
Prince of Orange, who, that he might establish 
civil and religious liberty, abandoned every other 
object, whether of interest or ambition. 

And, not to multiply examples, we may af- 
firm, that the simple and mild virtues of those 
eminent sea-commanders cle Ruyter and Law- 
son, flowed from a purer source than the love of 

U 



230 CHAPTER IT. 

pleasure or action. Whenever the public had 
no occasion for their services, they withdrew 
into, the calm mediocrity of private life, and 
only returned from their retreat when they were 
called to fight, bleed, and die for the land of 
their fathers. 

His next section bears this general title : 
" The primitive Christians condemn pleasure 
« and luxury." These terms are vague ; for, 
in modern language at least, the word pleasure, 
may imply something that is lawful as well as 
what is unlawful, and there are hardiv two men 
who ascribe the same meaning to the word lux- 
ury. 

But, without criticising on its title, let us ex- 
amine the contents of this section. " The ac- 
" quisition of knowledge/' says Mr Gibbon, 
cc the exercise of our reason or fancy, and the 
" cheerful flow of unguarded conversation, 
« may employ the leisure of a liberal mind. 
« ? Such amusements, however, were rejected 
« with abhorrence, or admitted with the utmost 
« caution, by the severity of the Fathers, who 
Cf despised all knowledge that was not useful to 
" salvation, and who considered all levity of dis- 
course as a criminal abuse of the gift of 
« speech," i. 576. 

On comparing the title with the text, we see 
that Mr Gibbon holds « the primitive Chri- 



CHAPTER IV. 231 

" stians" and " the Fathers" to be equivalent 
terms. This mistake, obvious to every reader, 
pervades his argument. Whenever he discovers, 
or imagines that he has discovered, a weak or 
absurd opinion in the works of any primitive 
writer, he presently concludes that all the pri- 
mitive Christians adopted it. 

In the passage now under our view, « Fa- 
ff thers" is limited to the African writers of the 
third century ; for all the authorities on which 
Mr Gibbon relies are quoted from the works of 
Tertullian, Clemens Alexandrinus, and Lactan- 
tius. 

It is singular, that of the three witnesses pro- 
duced by Mr Gibbon for proving the opinion of 
the primitive Christians in all countries, and du- 
ring three centuries, one of them, Tertullian, 
should have been a visionary and a heretic ; 
another, Lactantius, a person whose sentiments 
are admitted by every scholar to have been, in 
many and important particulars, erroneous y and 
a third , Clemens Alexandrinus, a compiler of 
the opinions and even of the conceits of Hea- 
then philosophers. 

And it is, if possible, still more singular, that 
Tertullian, Clemens Alexandrinus, and Lactan- 
tius, should be held out as " despisers of all 
W knowledge that was not necessary to salva- 



SfS CHAPTER IT. 

c< tion f for they were learned, and industrious 
to make parade of their learning. 

One might rather have looked for such con- 
tempt of secular knowledge in Jacob Boehmen 
and his illiterate admirers, than in a lawyer, a 
professor of sciences, and a rhetorician. 

The truth is, that those writers did not de- 
spise secular knowledge, but they considered it 
to be of less utility and importance than religi- 
ous attainments. 

Possibly Tertullian, after he became Monta- 
nist, may have asserted the fanatical tenet of 
" devotion and ignorance but that will not 
affect my proposition. 

Mr Gibbon proceeds to give a long catalogue 
of enjoyments and gratifications of sense, said 
to have been condemned by Clemens Alexan- 
drinus, and other Christian writers of the third 
century. 

1. It is said, that « with cur devout predeces- 
¥ sort) the first sensation of pleasure was mark- 
« ed as the first moment of the abuse of the 
« senses," i. 576. 577. But did they say so ? 
Did they, for instance, hold, that the first sen- 
sation of an agreeable smell, was the first mo- 
ment of the abuse of the sense of smelling ? 
Even the stern Tertullian thought otherwise;, 
for he relates, without the slightest censure, that 
the. Christians of his age and country indulged 



CHAPTER IV. 235 

themselves in the elegant gratification of the 
sense of smelling * ; and Lactantius, after ha- 
ving broke loose from the schools of Heathen 
philosophy, says, that the pleasures of the senses 
ought to be regulated ; and then proceeds, like 
a Christian moralist, to condemn such gratifica- 
tions as are vicious f . 

2. " The unfeeling candidate for Heaven was 
« instructed — to shut his ears against the pro- 
« fane harmony of sounds," i. 577. The force 
as well as the truth of this expression seems to 
rest on the word profane. It may well be sup- 
posed, that the Christians kept away from the 
music of their Heathen neighbours, as being 
connected with the popular religion, or as ha- 
ving been rendered subservient to the purposes 
of debauchery. . 

There is no doubt that, in our days, music 
may be innocent ; and that songs may be sung 
without any offence to morals, or even to deco- 

* " Non emo caoiH coronarn, quid tua interest 
f emptis nihilominus Horibus quomodo utar ? puto 
" gratius liberis et soluiis et undique vagis. Sed et 
u si in coronarn coactis, nos coronarn naribus novi- 
mus. Viderint qui per copilium odorantur" ApoL 
c. 42. 

f " Quinque sensuum volupcates — virtute su> 

" perari atque opprimi debent ; ve/ 9 quod paulo ante 
4< dicebam de afFectibus, ad raiionem suam revoca- 
66 rif* Instit. Divin, vi. 20, 

U 3 



CHAPTER IV. 

rum. But we are not from thence to infer, m 
seems to have been inferred by some writers,, 
that the primitive Christians, when they shut 
their ears against the music and songs of the 
Heathen world, were morose, and unreasonably 
rigid. 

No one can deny, that the primitive Chri- 
stians did well in keeping at a distance from the 
music and songs of the Heathens, when used in 
such of their ceremonies as were properly reli- 
gious. 

But Paganism was not confined to temples 
and the public offices of religion. It entered 
into civil life, and its influence extended even 
to convivial entertainments. It was the univer- 
sal practice of the Heathens, to personify vir- 
tues, habits, and qualities, and to convert them 
into objects 01 worship. Hence a metrical eu- 
logy on Fortitude or on Health became a reli- 
gious hymn, and hence, for example, a Chrif- 
stian could not have joined with the Heathens 
in singing the famous hymn to Health, which 
extols that imaginary goddess as worthy of the 
highest veneration. 

Verv few of the songs of the Heathens, even 
when they did not relate to the popular religion, 
were fit for the ears of a Christian # , at least if 

* There is still extant a Greek song, applauding 
that which ought not to be once named among us.-, 
and even urging, its jropriety. 



CHAPTER IT. 2S5 

we may judge of what is lost by what is still ex- 
tant. 

The Christians adopted that part of the reli- 
gious worship of the Jews which consisted in 
music ; and, therefore, it is impossible that they 
could have " shut their ears against the harmo- 
« ny of sounds *," it was the abuse alone of mu- 
sic which they condemned. 

These preliminary observations being kept in 
view, we may easily account for what Clemens 
Alexandrinus has said, in the passage alluded to 
by Mr Gibbon. So far from censuring music 
in general, Clemens says, that the lyre or the 
harp, that is, stringed instruments, ought to ac- 
company the singing of psalms or hymns, and 
even the saying grace before and after meat # . 

It is true, that he disapproves of wind-music \ 
and his reasons for this are not so ridiculous as 
M. Barbeyrac represents them f : But the de- 

* Psedag. ii. 4. In that chapter, Clemens Alexan- 
drinus says, Kelt yccg etggAoviae 7rxg t &%ix.Ttov toi$ o-aty^ovois 

{Aovtetg TXi$ xftg&ttetf 7rctg&7iuts 9 xctt tv} otvQotpo^arYi nut ircti- 
pxg-yi pv<7ix.'A. The learned reader needs not to be in- 
formed, that, anciently, a chaplet of flowers was the 
badge of debauchery ; and that, in Greek, uvfoQoguv- 
and iTdt^ivnvy were, in effect, synonymous.- Hence 
we may see what sort of music it is which the author 
condemns. 

f Morale des Peres, c. v. j 15. 



236 CHAPTER IV. 

cencie§ of modern language are such, that it is 
impossible, without deviating from them, to ex- 
plain the meaning of Clemens Alexandrinus. 

We have seen, that in the first and second 
instances produced by Mr Gibbon, the opinions 
of those primitive writers to whom he alludes, 
have been either mistaken or ambiguously re- 
ported. Let us proceed to the others. 

And here it may be fit to remark, that most 
of those sentiments which are censured in the 
works of Tertullian, Clemens Alexandrinus, and 
Lactantius, occur in the works of Seneca, the 
philosopher and statesman, who expresses them 
with more pompous words, and in warmer 
strains of declamation, than any of the three 
Africans use. So that, granting those primi- 
tive authors to have been, in the matter of 
Ethics, morose and absurd, their moroseness is 
not without great example, nor are their absur- 
dities singular. 

It is proposed to compare " the reasonings" 
of the Christian writers of the third century 
with « the reasonings" of a Heathen philoso- 
pher. 

In the course of this parallel, the quotations 
will be chiefly from Clemens Alexandrinus, 
against whom M. Barbeyrac aimed most of his 
learning and pleasantry. 

3. « The primitive Christians were instruct- 



CHAPTER IY. 257 

*' ed to view with indifference the most finish- 
" ed productions of human art." Seneca went 
farther ; he viewed them not only with con- 
tempt, but even with some degree of abhor- 
rence. " I cannot be persuaded," says that 
eminent philosopher, « to admit painters among 
" the professors of liberal arts, any more than 
M statuaries, and those who work in marble, and 
4< the other ministers of luxury ; in like manner^ 
u I extrude wrestlers, whose whole science is 

in oil and mud \ were I not to extrude them, 
" I should be obliged to admit perfumers and 
4< cooks; and every other person who bestows 
" his talents in furthering our pleasures 

Thus, according to Seneca, Reynolds and 
Wilton ought not to be distinguished from 
" the best wrestler on the green," or from a 
French cook who is at the head of his profes- 
sion ! 

Which of the primitive writers is it that as- 
sociates painters and statuaries with wrestlers, 

* w Non enim adducor, ut in numerura liberalium 
u artium pictores recipiam, non magis quam statua- 
*' rios, aut m armor arios, aui cceteros luxurice mini- 
" stros. ^que luctatores et totam oleo et luto con- 
m stan tern scientiam expello ex his studiis liberalibus ; 
44 aut et unguentarlos recipiam, et coquos, et csete- 
<fi ros voluptatibus nostris ingenia accomaiQdantes 
f sua," Epist. S8. 



238 CHAPTER IT. 

perfumers/ and cooks, in the great academy of 
luxury ? 

Seneca passionately exclaims against the first 
attempts towards that elegance in the laying out 
of garden-ground which we are apt to admire 
as one of (( the most finished productions of 
" human art." Let none who value the judge- 
ment of Seneca presume to swell knolls, to 
smooth lawns, or to form cascades # . 

Had Seneca been acquainted with the serpen- 
tine line of beauty, he, no doubt, would have 
shewn, by many philosophical arguments, that 
a straight line, being consonant with nature, 
was much preferable to undulations. 

Seneca laughed at the absurdity of those im- 
provers who planted trees merely for the shade 
which they might afford ; and when his con- 
temporaries laughed in their turn, at such lan- 
guage uttered by an improver like Seneca, he 
gravely discoursed of theory and practice,, and 
demonstrated that his theory might be just, al- 
though his practice were wrong f. 

Of the primitive Christians Mr Gibbon says, 
that « they were instructed to view with in- 

* " Luxuria vult — terras transferrer- flumina 
" prsecipitare,'' d. Ira. 1. i. c. 16. 

f 66 Cur arbores, praeter umbram nihil daturae, 
" conseruntur ?" d. Vita Beata, c. 17. The whole 
passage well deserves a careful perusal. 



CHAPTER IV. 239 

4t difference the most finished productions of 
i{ human art." But by whom were they in- 
structed ? Lactantius shall answer, Even by the 
Heathen philosophers *. 

4. " Gay apparel, magnificent houses, and 
46 elegant furniture, were supposed to unite the 
" double guilt of pride and of sensuality." 
i. 577. 

To the like purpose whole pages might be 
transcribed from the works of Seneca. Thus 
he says, " Whenever prosperous times have 
<£ diffused luxury, an attention more than usual 
" begins to be paid to dress ; next, pains are 
li taken in the choice of household furniture ; 
* { and, lastly, men bestow much study and care 
44 even on their habitations, that they may be 
•* so spacious as to cover whole fields, that the 
** walls may glisten with marble brought from 
44 foreign countries, that the ceilings be varie- 
44 gated with gold, and that the brightness of 

* " Voluptas oculorum varia et multiplex est, 
" quae capitur ex aspectu rerum quae sunt in usu, vel 
41 natura, vel opere delectabiles. Hanc philosoplii 
" rectissime sustulerunt . Aiunt enim multo esse 
" praeclarius et homine d-gnius, ccelum potius, quam 
" ccelata intueri, et hoc pulcherrimum opus inter- 
u micantibus astrorum luminibus, tanquam floribus 
41 adornatum, quam picta, et ficta, et gemmis dis- 
" tincta mirari," Divin. Instit. 1. vi. c. 20. 



2£0 CHAPTER IV. 

u the floors correspond with that of the ceil- 

f ings * " 

« Luxury wishes to be supported by ivory 
" couches, to be clothed in purple, and to be 
44 overspread with gold f ." 

<? Place before me whatever dazzles the eyes 
w of nations and monarchs \ let me behold the 
61 purchases made by blood, and with the jeo- 
tL pardy of your lives ; and the chief spoils won 

by luxury, either in their order, or, which is 
u better, all in one heap : That which I first 
a discern is a tortoise wrought up to the nicest 
" perfection of fineering, shells of the foulest 
" and most sluggish animals, bought at exorbi- 
a tant prices, and then so stained as to make 
61 them lose their agreeable variety of clouding, 

* " Ubi luxuriam late felicitas fudit, cultus pri- 
mum corporis esse diligentior incipit \ deinde su- 
a pellectili laboratur \ deinde in ipsas domos impen- 
a ditur cura, ut in laxitatem ruris excurrant, ut 
u parietes, advectis trans maria marrnoribus,fulgeant, 
a ut tecta varientur auro, ut lacunaribus pavimen- 
u torum respondeat niter," Epist. 114. Every one 
acquainted with the style of Seneca must know with 
what difficulty his meaning can be expressed in 
English. The gradation described by the philoso- 
pher is, in general, just \ but many of the inter- 
mediate steps, in the progress to great refinement, 
are omitted. 

f " Luxus ebore sustinere vulc, purpura vestiri, 
" auro tegi," d. Ira, 1. i. c. 16. 
1 



'Chapter Tt. ^ii 
*<.and assume the appearance of real wood. 
* c Here I see tables, a plank of timber valued 
" at a senator's fortune > and therefore th£ 
" more valuable because twisted into many 
" knots by the cross growth of the tree. 
« There, crystal cups, whose brittleness en- 
« hances their price ; for in the opinion of the 

* injudicious, that very risk which ought to 

* deter us from wishing to possess a thing, in- 
" creases the pleasure of possession. I see 
u pearls, but not one to each ear ; for our ears 
« are now become inured to carry burdens, and 
« pearls are united, and above them others also 
" are placed. The triumph of mad female ex- 
« travagance over man, would not have been 
4 s complete, had not two or three estates hung 
« from each ear. I see silken coverings, if 
" indeed they may be denominated coverings^ 
•« which neither protect the body nor the mo- 
M desty of women ; and which are of such a 
" texture, that she who wears them can hardly 
u affirm herself not to be naked 

* u Volo sub conspectu meo ponere quse gentium 
** oculos regumque praestringunt ; volo intueri pre- 
" tia sanguinis animarumque vestrarum [f. vestra- 
" tum~] ' 7 prima mini luxuriae spolia propone : siv« 
" ilia vis per ordinem expandere, sive, ut est melius, 
44 in unum acervum dare. Video elaboratam scru- 
" pulosa distinctione testudinem, et fcedissimorum 
44 pigerrimorumque animalium testas, ingentibus 

X 



CHAPTER rr. 
What would have been said, if any writer 
among the primitive Christians had aggravated 
the crying enormity of tortoise-shell-ornaments, 
from the circumstance of the tortoise itself 
being the most sluggish of animals ? Pity that 
£eneca knew nothing of the formation of silk \ 
if he had, he would, no doubt, have informed 
admiring posterity, that Roman matrons took 
pride in being arrayed in the entrails of vile 
worms ! 



u pretiis emptas, in quibus ipsa ilia quag placet 
" varietas, subditis medicament is, in similitudinem 
" veri [i.-yeri Iigm~] coloratur. Video istic mensas, 
6< et estimatum lignum senatoris censu, eo pretiosius, 
" quo illud in plures nodos arboris infelicitas torsi U 
M Video istic -crystalline, quorum accendit fragilitas 
' 4 pretium ; omnium enim rerum voluptas apud im- 
" peritos, ipso quo fugare debet periculo, crescit. — 
" Video uniones, non singulos singulis auribus com- 
" paratos ; jam enim exercitatse aures oneri ferendo 
" sunt : junguntur inter se, et insuper alii binis 
" superponuntur. Non satis muliebris insania viros 
u subjecerat, nisi bina ac trina patrimonia auribus 
" singulis pependissent. Video sericas vestes, si 
u vestes vocandae sunt, in quibus nihil ist quo de- 
" fendi aut corpus aut denique pudor possit j quibus 
u sumptis, mulier parum liquido nudam se non esse 
" jurabit," d. Benefices, L vii. c. 9. The reader 
will not find, in Clemens Alexandrinus, a dissertation 
on tortoise-shell inlayed \ but he will find a more 
serious argument, as to nahed drapet~ij, than is in 
Seneca. See Pcedag. L ii. c. 10. p. 234. edit. 
Potter. 



CHAPTER IV. 243 

M In their censures of luxury ," says Mr Gib- 
bon, " the Fathers are extremely minute and 
** circumstantial/ 5 i. 577. 

In describing the luxury of the Romans, 
Seneca also is " extremely minute and circum- 

* stantial." His eighty-sixth epistle, more par- 
ticularly, ought to be perused by those who 
talk of the extreme minuteness^ as well as of 
the pious indignation of the primitive writers. 
It may be doubted, whether Tertullian, in his 
most fanatical mood, ever declaimed with 
greater extravagance than Seneca does in thsl 
epistle. 

Mr Gibbon proceeds to enumerate the va- 
rious articles which excited the pious indigna- 
tion of the Fathers. 

5. " False hair." Seneca, in drawing that 
admirable portrait of Caligula, omits not his 
" false hair *." 

6. ' Vases of gold and silver." " That 

4; which I like," says Seneca, " is the clumsy 
** plate which belonged to our homely fore- 
u fathers, without ornament or name of artin- 
u cer j." — H If a man should set his wishes en 

* M Tanta capitis destituti et emendicatis capillir. 

* aspersi deformitas," d. Constantia sapientis, c. 18. 

f " Placet — argentum grave rustici patris, sine 
" uUo op'ere et nomine arlificis, ,, d. Tranquillitate 
a-nimi, c. 1. 



£4-4- e ?! A P T E R IT. 

** having a house splendidly furnished "with 
4 * vessels of gold, end with silver plate, the 
4< workmanship of renowned ancient artists, 
4i with brass, which the folly of a few has made 
44 precious, and with the marble of every nation, 
44 although all these things should be accumu- 

iated in his possession, still they would net 
u satiate desires which are insatiable 

7. ^ Downy pillows." " How wretched 

* 4 must our ancestors have been," exclaims 
Seneca ironically \ « for the earth was their 
41 bed f — « Attalus was wont to commend a 
u pillow that did not yield to the body. Such 
(i a one I use, even in old age \ my head leaves 
• ; no mark on it J." 

It may be proper to observe., that Clemen? 
Alexandrinus condemns soft beds of down, a 
being inconvenient, and as tending to obstruct 

* u Si desiderat aureis fulgen'ceni vasis supel- 
" lectilem et antiquis nominibus artificum argentum 
** nobile, 9&s paucorum insania pieiiosum et nati- 
" onum omnium lapides, isia, congerantur licet, 
6< nunquam exrplebunt insatiabiiemaniroum,' 1 Consoh 
ad. Heiviam, c. 11. 

f " Scilicet majores nostri mfeliees erant 

44 qedbus terra cubile erat,*' Consul, ad Heiviam^ 
c. 10. 

X 4 < Laudare solebat Attalus culcltram quae re- 
* c sisteret corpori 3 tali utor etiam senex, in qua 
vestigium apparere non possit," Epist. .I0 Q -. 



CHAPTER It, £40 

regular digestion * : so that he assigns a reason 
for his censure of them, which Seneca does not ; 
and he adds, " On the other hand, it is a piece 
" of Cynical vain glory, to be studious of sleep- 
4< ing, like Diomede, on a bull's hide \ this 
" ought to be done only in cases of necessity f 
When Seneca boasted of his hard pillow, Cle- 
mens Alexandrinus would scarcely have ac- 
quitted him of Cynical vain glory. 

44 White bread." Seneca advises his friend 
and pupil Lucilius to feed often on hard and 
coarse bread %. « I dine," says he, " without a 
ik table, on dry bread ; and, after such a din- 
f* ner, I need not wash my hands ||." To dine 
without a table seems the triumph of philoso- 

* Poedag. 1. ii. c. 9. p, 216. in his dissuasives 
from what are termed luxuries, Clemens Alexandri- 
nus generally introduces arguments with regard to 
the preservation of health. Whether the arguments 
be his own, or borrowed from ancient physicians and 
moralists, I know not. 

■f* " TlxXiV Ti «V KiVO$o%iUf tft Kv'JIKtf, KCt$U7fS^ Tit 

Pcedag. L ii. c. 9. p. 217. 

X " Panis durus ac sordidus," Epist. 13. See 
more to the like effect, Consol. ad Helviam, c. 11. 

j| " Panis deinde siccus, et sine mensa prandium $ 
M post quod non sunt lavandse manus," Epist. 83. 

X 8- 



246 CHAPTER IT. 

phy ; and to dine without having occasion to 
wash, « equals man with Jove I" 

(i Having little, learn to be satisfied j and 
" magnanimously utter aloud these words, Let 
*' us have water and a cake of barley ', and we 
u will contend with Jupiter himself for f elicit if 
This applauded saying was of Epicurus f . The 
flight seems tolerably high, yet the self-suffi- 
ciency of Seneca soared far above it ; for he 
adds, " nay, I beseech you, not having them, 
*~ let us so contend 

And in another passage, he asks, " has that 
f4 man too little, of whom it can only be said, 
* that he is not chilled with cold, that he is 
<t not hungry or athirst ? Jupiter himself pos- 
" sesses not more ||." 

It is probable that Mr Gibbon alludes to a 
passage in Clemens Alexandrinus, when he 

* " Disce parvo esse conientus : et illam vocem 
u magnus animosusque exclarna, Habeamus aqua?n, 
u habeamus polenta m, Jovi ipsi de felicitate contn- 
6C versiam faciamusf Eplst. 110. 

u izxvoV) 1'drca yi fc^jy (kccvov. 'EAsyij di» i?oip,a$ €%uy 

** vS^." Epicurus, ap. Stobasum. 

£ " Faciamus, oro te, etiam si ista defuerint,'' 
Epist. 110. 

|| " An parum habet, qui tan turn non alge^, 
w uori esurit, non sitit ? plus Jupiter ipse non habet,'- 



CHAPTER If. 247 

says, that the Fathers condemned the use of 
white bread. But I persuade myself that he 
has trusted to the accuracy of M. Barbeyrac's 
version, instead of consulting the original, which 
runs thus : « Besides, by boulting the flour, 
and so excluding the nutritive parts of the 
wheat, they over-refine [or render effeminate] 
" that bread which, in itself, is light on the 
" stomach, and may be easily digested ; and 
u thus necessary sustenance is converted into a 
" shameful gratification of taste *. M Clemen* 

Epist. 119. Is this the language of the Portico, or 
of Bed/am .? The sentiments of Si Paul are some- 
what different from those of the two wise men. 
*&yat yx^ iLcxQo* w qi<; uxi, xvIx^kt.s avcti. 010 x 2z Txmt* 

Oihx XXI TTi^irO-lVliV SV 7TXVTI KOil £ tr 77X71 fAztAVYi/XXl 
KOU fcOffTX^jQxi, KXi TTiiVXV, X.X. 7Tl^l77iVilV KXt V^i^iL7&XL, 

He adds the reason, 7tx*~x ^yvca it ru iv^wxf&fgilt pi 
Xiiga. Philip, iv. 11. — 13. In another passage, 
i. Tim. vi. 6. 'EvriQux is joined with xvTx^y.ux, a 
thing which would have astonished Seneca. And 
the Christian encouragement to this virtue is to be 
found in Heb. xiii. 5. A^Kvpnoi f«s 7rx^n7n xviog 
yxg HfiYjKiv* ov jtcjj 71 ay& y ov {X% ?Z KxrxKtTTdi). The 
promise under the spiritual theocracy is like that 
under the Jewish, Deut. xxxi. 6. There is more 
energy in u for he himself hath said," \_xvtc$ yig 
tignxk*2i ^ an * n a ^ t ^ le high-sounding phrases of 
Seneca. 

* AXXx &Xi Tt k y ivfcoXd¥ fi^ariv, tov xelov, iyJr,Xvvzriv, 
X7ro7/ t $ofiif ry ttv^ to T^otytpoi, v$ to xvxyKXiov t*& 
T^op^i ovisSoj yivio-Qxt $cvviz 9 Pcedag. 1. ii. c.i. p. 164, 
M. Barbeyrac transcribes the whQle of the passage, 



248 CHAPTER IV. 

Alexandrinus does not blame fine bread because 
of its delicacy, but because of its unfitness for 
food. It is of no consequence whether his 
theory of aliments be just or erroneous ; he 
may have been mistaken in adopting a vulgar 
opinion, but the conclusions which he draws 
from it are not unreasonable. 

8. " The use of foreign wines." This article 
hardly deserved a place in Mr Gibbon's cata- 
logue but such as it is, Seneca did not over- 
look it : for, while enumerating the luxuries of 
his own age, he mentions " wine of different 
vantages, and of various nations 

Clemens Alexandrinus, though a primitive 
Father, speaks very reasonably on this subject. 
44 If," says he w Chian wine be not at hand, we 
4< ought not to be solicitous about it. All wines 
44 come from God's vineyard, and any sort is 
44 enough for a temperate guest ; — and why 

in his notes, Morale des Peres, c. v. § 13. ; but 
he translates only part of it. His words are : 44 II 
" met au rang des exces de bouche condamnable, 
44 Pusage du pain blanc : c^est, dit-il, effeminer et 
44 tourner un alimetit necessaire en opprobre de 
" vo/upte.^ This is not a full, and, perhaps, it is 
not a fair translation, even of the abridgement of 
Clemens Alexandrinus j for the French word volupte^ 
in its most common sense, is much too forcible for 
the corresponding word in the original. 

* 46 Tot Consulum regionumque vina," Epist 115. 



CHAPTER XV. 24:3 

H may not the wine of his own country satisfy 
* him*:" 

Here there is nothing of that pious indigna- 
tion mentioned by Mr Gibbon. Clemens 
Alexandrinus does not condemn the use of 
foreign wines, when they can be had \ but 
when such cannot be ha J, he censures those 
who fastidiously reject the wine of their own 
country. 

* Public salutations." Seneca severely cen- 
sures the fashion of frequenting the levees of 
the powerful and the wealthy \ and of making 
frivolous visits f \ and he even censures morning 

* M aroAwr^flty^td*)}TS«i twjv rot omov tc* X<«v, uv «ar*. 
— - rAKp^OVi (ri{f4.7F#Fn Givog ti$, iffy yioj^yiov QzX ---Ti yot^ rnt 
*j7re%?vi o • Ti%<»(>id<; i7ft7ir>.Y,^C'}jen Trp I7ridv,utuy. Pcedag. 

1. ii. c. 2. p. J 84. 183. The Greek phrase a ttcXv- 
7r£ciynov/}Tz6v, answers nearly to the colloquial phrase 
in English, " there is no need to make much work 
M about it." The word ro^a-org?, is translated 
14 guest," because there occurs not any word in the 
English language which conveys the exact notion of 
rvun6Tt&. T his is singular in a nation composed of 
clubs. Clemens Alexandrinus says, " all wines come 
*? from God's vineyard." The reader will remark^ 
that in this passage there are metrical numbers j and, 
therefore, it is probable that here the author, as on 
numberless other occasions, alludes to seme passage 
n a Greek poet. 

f De Ere vita te vltae, c. 14. ^ d. Eenefkiis, 1. vu 
c. 33. 34% These passages are very circumstantial^ 
and no less curious, 



250 CHAPTER IT. 

salutations at temples # . Had Clemens Alexsn- 
drinus spoken in the like style, the example of 
the philosopher might have afforded some 
apology for his pious indignation ; but some- 
thing very different was meant than that which 
M. Barbeyrac calls " se saluer de vue," and 
which Mr. Gibbon inadvertently renders " public 
44 salutations." 

Clemens Alexandrinus says, of " the holy 
" kiss" mentioned in St Paul's epistles, " that 
44 it is not by the use of that ceremony, but by 
4 the demonstration of good will, that we are 
" to judge of real Christian love ; that nothing 
44 bred more disturbance in the church, than 
44 that ceremony did when used by persons void 
4 * of the real benevolence of the heart ; that 
44 the kiss afforded ground for much abuse and 
44 scandal \ that it was mystical, and hence St 
44 Paul denominates it holy." All this is un- 
exceptionable ; and the inference which Cle- 
mens Alexandrinus seems to draw from it is 

* " Quomodo sint dii colendi, solet praecipL— 
H Vet emus salutationihus matutinis fungi, et foribus 
44 assidere templorum : humana ambitio istis officiis 
44 capitur. Deum colit qui novit," Epist. 95. « his 
is one example, out of a thousand, of the state of 
the Heathen world. The philosophers saw, despised, 
and derided the superstition of the people , and yet 
they did not attempt to introduce any thing better 
in its place. 



CHAPTER IV. 251 

this, that the ceremony ought to be limited to 
the assemblies of the Christians at the celebra- 
tion of their mysteries or secret religious wor- 
ship ; and that it ought to be performed with 
gravity. Then he adds that remark, which 
Barbeyrac first, and after him Mr Gibbon, have 
thought fit to detach from his general argument : 
44 But Christians are not partakers even of the 
" smallest portion of divine grace, when, with 
H a foolish forwardness, they salute each other 
*' in the public ways, so as to ivish to be remarked 
" by the Heathens # ." Let any one who under- 
stands Greek, judge whether this be the lan- 
guage of fanaticism, or of sound reason and 
prudence, and then let him say, whether Bar- 
beyrac was not much to blame in misleading 
Mr Gibbon. 

9. " The use of warm baths." Here Seneca 
loses all patience. He exclaims against every 
•sort of warm bath, whether natural or artificial, 

* Ayxvrvi 5s %k sv QiXr t uetri #AA' iv svvoix xptvirxi* It 

}«, *£s* «AA' JJ q>lXY} t UUTl Y-XTX'^0$%?1 TXg ZKItXwiXC, T$ 

ptXxv iv^ov %k i%6VTi$ xvto, 'ksti yx(> KC&( TXTO ZX- 

jr89rAjj*5» v7T6Vdioc$ xio-%£xg xui /ZXxrQnpiag to xvxiow 
%pirQeti it* OiXnfixrt, <>7rz£ zivxt f&vertxw. *AF ION 

mvto kikXyiksv o Atto?o\os+ k. t. €. xXXx KXt ot 

xxrx rxg edvg xyxirnroM XT7rx7^oi, Trx^rtxg xvonT* 
yzuovrzg, JccLTotQxwv roig ix-rog tivxi fivMuiv&v, vhiXu%ifK 
fim%xn %x£irc$. Pcedag. L5L c. 11. p. 301. 



252 CHAPTER IT. 

whether wet or dry *. And here, which is not 
always the case, he confirms his precepts by kite 
own example. « Throughout life/' says he, 
6t I have avoided warm baths f k " It seems that, 
in his younger days, he frequented the school 
of Attalus the philosopher ^ from him he learnt, 
among other things, to love poverty. On his 
return into the world, he continued to practise 
a few of the lessons which Attalus had taught 
him, and particularly that of abstaining from the 
use of the warm bath, and from the eating of 
oysters %. As to " the love of poverty," wfe 

* " Q?' l & m * n * cura * st * s calentibus stagnis ? quid 
cum sudatoriis, in quae siccus vapor corpora ex- 
" hausturus includitur ?V Epist. 51. " Ubicunque 
" scatebunt aquarum calentium venae, ibi nova di- 
'* versoria luxuriae excitabuntur," Epist. 89. I 
translate this for the benefit of my unlearned readers. 
<6 Where ever there are new watering-places, there 
" will be lodging-houses and ordinaries." This 
great truth is foretold in elegant Latin. 

f " In omnem vitam balneum fugimus," Epist. 
108. 

J " Cum vero commendare paupertatem cceperar, 
" et ostendere, quam quicquid usum excederet, pon- 
** dus esset super vacuum et grave ferenti : saepe 

" exire e schola pauperi libuit. Inde mihi quae- 

" dam permansere, Lucili. Magno enim in omnia 
" impetu veneram : deinde ad civitatis vitam reduc- 
" tus, ex bene cceptis pauca servavi," Sec. Epist, 
108. 

1 



CHAPTER IV. '255 

know not well what became of it ; in all like- 
lihood, it became purely Platonic. 

10. " The practice of shaving the beard." 
Seneca says, u while occupied in the smoothing 
M and polishing of our bodies, we extinguish 
" any spark that may yet remain of virtuous 
4< manners 

u With what propriety," exclaims he, ironi- 
cally, " can those men be said to have nothing 
" to do, who, every day, have many hours to 
44 get rid of with their barber, while each single 
< 4 hair that may chance to have sprung up, since 
4< the night before, is cropped f ?" 

He asks, What is the use of mirrors, or of 
any smooth surface reflecting objects that are 
placed before it ? His first answer is a negative 
one ; " Not surely that we might be enabled 
«* to pluck at our beards, and polish the face of 
4i a man % !" 

* " Adhuc quicquid est boni moris extmguimus, 
u lsevitate et politura corporum." Nat. Quaest. 1. vih 
c. 31. 

f ' Quid illos otiosos vocas, quibus apud tonsorem 
M multae horae transmittuntur, dum decerpitur si 
u quid proxima nocte succrevit ?" d. Brevitate vitae f 
c. 12. 

X " Non in hoc, scilicet, ut ad speculum barbam 
" faciemque [f. faucesque] velleremus, aut ut faciem 
" viri pohremus," Nat. Quaest. 1. L c. 17. 

Y 



254 CHAPTER IV. 

4 " A nice and effeminate person speaks ha 
44 dainty language, such as they use who pluck 
k( out their beard, or who shave it, and rub it 
44 smooth about their lips, and leave the rest of 
4i it stroked down 

Thus far the philosopher. -Let us now 

hear the Montanist. Mr Gibbon says, 64 the 
4 * practice of shaving the beard is, according to 
4t the expression of Tertullian, a lie against our 
44 own faces, and an impious attempt to improve 
44 the works of the Creator, d. Spectaculis, 
" c. 23. ,? 

Tertullian abounds in extravagant fancies, 
but that ascribed to him by Mr Gibbon is none 
of them. 

While declaiming against public shews, Ter- 
tullian uses some expressions which Mr Gibbon 
seems to have misunderstood. 

It is difficult, in a literal translation, to render 
intelligibly into English, the harsh and obscure 

% " Delicati hominis tenera et fluxa oratio est, 
44 quod vides istos sequi, qui aut vellunt barbam, 
46 aut intervellunt, qui labra prorsus tondent et abra- 
" dunt, servata et submissa csetera parte," Epist. 114. 
Perhaps my version does not exactly describe the 
elegant trimming of those days. One thing is re- 
markable } Seneca seems to ascribe the decay of 
eloquence to shaving, while he himself, with his 
rough Stoical beard, contributed more, by his own 
example and authority, to that decay, than all the 
smooth chinned coxcombs of Rome. 



CHAPTER IV. 255 

language* of Tertullian. The following para- 
phrase may be thought to express his meaning. 

* 4 Can he be acceptable in the sight of God, 
<4 who uses a rasor to make himself appear dif- 
** ferent from what he is ? Such a man is un- 
}\ faithful towards his own countenance, not 
" only by disfiguring it, but also by subjecting 
u it to contumely : for he shaves his head that 
" he may personate bald Saturn ; and his chin, 
6t that he may personate the goddess Isis, and 
* ( the young Bacchus : and, moreover, in ludi- 
" crous exhibitions, he assumes the guise of a 
44 buffoon ; and submits to the insult of having 
« his cheeks smitten, as if he meant to turn 
'* into ridicule that precept of our Lord, to him 
" that smiteth one. cheek, offer the other *J1 

This paraphrase may appear free, but the in- 
telligent reader will judge whether it deviates 
from the sense of the original. 

It is plain, that Tertullian does not speak of 
the practice of shaving the beard, as opposed to 
the letting it grow. 

To have a smooth chin might be necessary 

* " An Deo — ■ — placebit, qui vultus sues nova- 
" cula. mutat ? Infidelis erga faciern suam, quam 
" non contentus Satumo, et Isidi, et Bacchc proxi- 
" mam facere, insuper contumeliis alaparum objicit, 
" quasi de prsecepto Domini laudat, [1. ludat]," 
Sncctaculis, c. 2 3. 



256 CHAPTER IV. 

for one who represented the character of Isis 
or Bacchus , but Tertullian, however absurd 
his imaginations were** could not have supposed 
that it was necessary that a man should shave 
his beard for qualifying himself aptly to repre- 
sent the character of old Saturn. 

We must grant, that Clemens Alexandrinus 
condemns the practice of shaving' the beard. 
This is not strange in an author who had the 
Greek philosophers constantly before his eyes \ 
yet he permits that trimming of the beard, 
against which Seneca so pathetically declaims. 

Besides, if any one will take the pains of ex- 
amining the Poedagogus, b. iii. c. 3. he will 
perceive that Clemens Alexandrinus treats of 
unutterable enormities which, in his days, were 
connected with the fashions condemned by him. 
The persons of whom he speaks, ministered to 
the abominations of wretches, " whose taste in 
4f love," that I may use the civility of modern 
language, " whose taste in love was not alto- 
gether correct." 

If, in our days, there were a particular dress 
appointed by custom to courtezans, he would 
not be termed a severe moralist who should 
censure virtuous women for assuming that dress, 
and shewing false colours. 

II. The only remaining article in Mr Gib- 



CHAPTER IV. 257 

bon's catalogue is, " the prohibition of the use 
" of any colour except white." 

Here, it is probable, that Mr Gibbon alludes 
to a passage in which Tertullian argues for the 
use of wool in its natural colour ; because, if 
the Divinity had thought fit that wool should 
have been purple or sky-blue, he would have 
created sheep of those colours *. The treatise 
which contains this rhapsody, bears other marks 
"of a deplorable disorder of mind and if Mr 
Gibbon relies on such a passage, from such a 
work, for proving the opinion of the primitive 
writers, and the practice of the primitive church, 
it must be allowed that his proof falls wonder- 
fully short of the charge. 

Clemens Alexandrinus says, that " white and 
<fc plain raiment is the most consonant to men of 
*' clear consciences and of genuine internal 
4 ' piety f ) and that white is the best colour for 
u the peaceable and the illumined J." 

* u Quis enim est vestium honor ju'stus, de adul- 
" terio colorum injustorum ? Non placet Deo quod 
" non ipse produxit, nisi si non potuit purpureas et 
" aerinas oves nasci jubere," d. Cultu fceminarum, 
l.i. c. 8. 

j- Txg Xtvxxsy xxi 8 vc$%s rot, sv^ay, Xzv>tectg x.ai 
u7ri£tz£yois c&pftcdwTccTov uj§wi %PTtcrQoti. Pcedag. 1. ii. 
c. 10. p. 234^ 

vo XiVKov. Pcedag. Liu. c. 11. p. 285. 

Y 3 



£0 CHAPTER IV. 

With respect to Clemens Alexandrinus, as <r 
Christian author, it matters not whether this 
opinion he shallow or profound, dull or ingeni- 
ous, sense or nonsense \ for it is mere Platonism, 
and accompanied with a quotation in the very 
words of Plato # ; so that, as to this particular 
at least, we may hope to hear no more of the 
pious indignation of the Father, in his preference 
of ivhite to all other colours : he did but copy 
from an original which, according to the present 
taste, is unexceptionable. 

Seneca does not enjoin the use of white gar- 
ments alone to his contemporaries \ neither 
could he, without introducing confusion into the 
customs of Rome, civil as well as religious. But 

ttXi&v i^ycv 7rpoTz^i yvvxiHOs <rv$po\<ic. y^oo^artA !)i 
Mwce&i 7rez7rcvTci av tn^ver^n, xcti aXXedi. Xiya, xxt iv 
s<p'ij : Bxf/.uzTsi §s fi&r } '^wrpSfjuf, ccXX n 7Tpo; rot, ttoXiux 
xdrf&np&ret. lb. The corresponding passage in Plato 
runs thus : "Tcpjjy £t 7rXiov tgycv yvvottx.o$ p-iscs zupwov* 

V$n. fiZjUU0ZTC6 <$Z U'/j T^drpi^ilV, OiXX' 7} 7rg<iS Tot, vroXipv 

TiotrpifA.aTot, d. Republics, 1. xh\. p. 691. edit. FicinL 
The learned reader will observe, that Clemens 
Alexandrinus has interpolated the virtuous woman 
from the Old Testament, and ??wral comeliness from 
the New j but that, as to the rest, he quotes Plato,, 
and argues analogically from the sentiments of that 
philosopher. What follows in Plato well deserves 
the attention of those who imagine, that trifling is 
the peculiar attribute of the primitive Fathers, 



CHAPTER IV. 259 

many of the enormities which afford topics for 
the eloquence of that philosopher, have been 
altogether overlooked by the primitive writers ; 
such as, 1. The use of any transparent substance 
corresponding to the glass-windows of modern 
times *, 2. The employing of stoves, in order to 
keep chambers warm ; 3. The bringing of fish 
alive to market , and, 4. The cooling of liquors 
with ice or snow. 

I sty As to what might be denominated « glass- 
* fc windows." Seneca savs, " How much do 
w some persons of our times censure Scipio for 
" his clownish manner of life, in not having 
i( had large panes to give light to his warm 
* bath *." 

2dly, " Stoves." — « A slight breath of air will 
" be dangerously chilling to him whose eating 
" rooms are kept in an equal temperature by 
" means of warm air conducted under the floor, 
u and diffused around the walls f." 

* " Quantae nunc aliqui rusticitatis damnant Sci- 
" pionem, quod non in caldarium suum latis specu- 
w laribus diem admiserat," Epist. 86. \ that is, in 
colloquial language, " it was shockingly ungenteel 
" for Scipio," &c. On the same subject he says 
elsewhere, " Quern specularia semper ab adflatu vin- 
" dicarunt," d. Providentia, c. 4. 

f " Cujus ccenationes subditus et parietibus cir- 
" cumfusus dalor temper avit, hunc levis aura non 
45 sine periculo stringet," d. Providentia, c. 4> 



260 CHAPTER IT. 

Sdh/ 9 " The bringing of fish alive to market/ 5 
— u "We were wont to be surprized at the nice- 

ty of those men who would not touch a fish, 
€i unless on the day that it was caught, and un- 
<; less, as the phrase is, it tasted of the sea. 
4 > Hence, fish were conveyed by post \ hence, 
i(t way was made for the carriers, as they hurried 
ii along, bawling, and out of breath. To what 
" a length have the refinements in good living 
4i come ! That fish is now considered as stale 
fe4 which was caught and killed to-day. Is he 
a alive? says the Epicure. I camiot depend upon 
"you in a matter of such moment ; let me have 
ik ocular demonstration : bring him hither, that I 
n may see him die 

4*tJrfi/) But it is on the subject of ice that Se- 
neca exerts his utmost abilities in rhetoric. — 
ic We have discovered the secret of piling up 
4< water so as to make it resist the warmth of 
" summer, and defy its greatest heat, by the 

* " Mirabamur tantum in illis esse fastidium, ut 
u nollent attingere, nisi eodem die cap turn piscem :* 
" qui, ut aiunt, saperet ipsum mare. Ideo cursu ad- 
" vehebatur, ideo gerulis, cum anhelitu et clamore 
" properantibus, dabatur via. Quo pervenere deli- 
" ciae ! is pro putrido piscis affertur, qui [nonj hodie 
fi£ eductus, hodie occisus est. Nescio de re magna 
" tibi credere : ipse oportet miht credani : hue affe- 
'{ ratur^ coram me anima?n agat" Nat. Quaest. 1. UL 
c.18. 



CHAPTER IV. 261 

*< coldness of the repository prepared for that 
44 purpose ; and what have we got for all our 
44 pains ? why, truly, that we may be able to 
44 purchase water, which we might have had for 
tl nothing* !" 

<; Wretched is the state of a sick person! 
" why ? because he does not melt snow \ be- 
" cause he does not add to the coldness of his 
4 ' draught already mixed in a large goblet, by 
" laying pieces of broken ice on it f ." 

44 You take Socrates to have been hardly dealt 
a with, because he quaffed the state-poison no 
44 otherwise than as a medicinal draught, be- 
44 stowing immortality, and discoursed of death 
44 till it arrived ; because his blood froze, and, a 
44 chillness gradually coming over him, his pulse 
" ceased to beat. How much more is he to 
" be envied than they for whom some impure 
u minister of debauchery drops snow into a gold 
« cup % ?" 

* " Invenimus quomodo stiparemus aquam, ut ea 
" sestatem vinceret, et contra aiinf fervorem defen- 
44 deretur loci frigore. O^uid hac diiigentia conse- 
" cuti samus ? Nempe Ut gratuitam raercemur 
u aquam." Nat. Qusest. 1. iv. c. 13. 

-f " O infelicem segrum ! quare ? quia non nivera 
46 diluit ; quiarion rigorem potionis suae, quam capa- 
" ci scypho miscuit, reiiovat fracta insuper glacie." 
Ernst. 78. 

X " Male tractatum Socratem judicas, quod illam 
44 potionem publice mixtarn, non aliter quarn medi- 



262 CHAPTER IV. 

fej Women also, as well as men, nibble at snow, 
4 4 to give ease to their boiling stomachs *. Can 
" you doubt ; that such summer snow is the 
<fc cause of obstructions in the liver f ?" 

The most acute censurer of the ancient Chri- 
stian writers will hardly be able to point out in 
any of them, Tertullian himself not excepted, 
more ridiculous declamations than those of Se- 
neca against iced liquors. 

Indeed, many things censured by passionate 
moralists j under the vague appellations of lux- 
tiriesy are ? in themselves, indifferent, and are cen- 
sured merely on account of their being new or 
uncommon. This may be shewn in the four 
particulars, of which Seneca has said so much, 
and which are not mentioned by the Christian 
writers in question. 

" c amentum immortalitatis obduxlt, et de morte dis- 
" putavit usque ad ipsam ! male cum illo actum est, 
" quod gelatus est sanguis, ac, paulatim frigore m- 
" due to, venarum vigor constitit ! Ouanto magis 
" huic invidendum est, quam iilis qui bus exoletus 
" — ■ suspensam auro nivem diluit !" d. Providentia ? 
c. 3. The rhetorician blends nix and exoletus ! 

* " [Fceminae] feque nivem rodunt, solatium sto- 
u machi ^stuantis," Epist. 95. 

f The phrase " callum obducere," is translated, 
" the cause of obstructions.'" The original is not 
very intelligible and, perhaps, Seneca's knowledge 
£s a physician may here be questioned. 



CHAPTER IV. 263 

In our days, every English gin-shop has more 
convenient, and perhaps more elegant glass- 
windows, than an Emperor, or even the freed- 
man of an Emperor, had in the days of Seneca. 
Throughout the northern continent of Europe, 
stoves are used in the habitation of the mecha- 
nic as well as in the palaces of sovereigns. The 
Dutch boor purchases live fish in the market 
and iced liquors are drank by the young Lazza- 
roni of Naples, men generally without house 
and without home. 

Should these observations serve as an apology 
for Seneca, it is well ; but that candour which 
forgives him will, no doubt, be equally indul- 
gent to others, who, to say the very worst of 
them, have only offended as he did. 

The case of Tertullian is the least favourable 
of any, and yet candour may possibly find some- 
thing to be urged in behalf of a man who, amid 
all his extravagancies, could thus express him- 
self. " May we not, in long-suffering, safely 
" commit every thing to God ? If our injuries, 
6< he is our avenger \ if the damages which we 
64 have sustained, he will make restitution ; if 
" our pain, he is our physician ; and should we 
u lay down our life, it is he who can raise us 
44 again # ." 

* " Satis idoneus patientiae sequester Deus. Si 
u injuriam deposueris penes eiim, ultor est ; si dam- 



264 CHAPTER IV. 

My labour, in instituting this comparison be- 
tween the extravagant fancies of Seneca and 
those ascribed to some of the primitive writers, 
will have been ill bestowed, should my readers 
imagine that I mean to vindicate any errors in 
the primitive writers, by pointing out similar 
errors in an eminent Heathen philosopher. 

Mr Gibbon had full liberty to select, from all 
the primitive writers, whatever tended to ex- 
pose them to ridicule ; and yet, even with the 
aid of the mistakes and exaggerations of Bar- 
beyrac, he has not been able to produce, from 
their works, any instances of injudicious and 
trifling censures on the luxuries and convenien- 
cies of life, which are not to be equalled, if not 
exceeded, by the passionate declamations of Se- 
neca on the like topics. 

But further, it was in the schools of Heathen 
philosophy that the Christian writers learnt to 
declaim in that style, which Mr Gibbon ascribes 
to " pious indignation." Let us be consistent, 
and not blame the scholars, while we extol the 
masters whom they chose to imitate # . 

" num. restitutor est , si dolorem, medicus est j si 
" mortem, resuscitator est," d. Patientia, c. 15. 

* Of this preposterous imitation many instances 
might be given. The following, selected from the 
works of Clemens Alexandrinus, will serve for a spe- 
cimen. That learned man attempted to introduce 



CHAPTER IV. 26| 

After what has been said, we need not make 
many observations on the conclusion which Mr 
Giobon thinks fit to draw. " When Christian- 
'* ity was introduced among the rich and the 
44 polite, the observance of these singular laws 
14 was left, as it would be at present, to the few 
4; who were ambitious of superior sanctity. But 
" it is always easy as well as agreeable, for the 
4< inferior ranks of mankind, to claim a merit 
<4 from the contempt of that pomp and pleasure 
f 4 which fortune has placed beyond their reach. 
44 The virtue of the primitive Christians, like 
44 that of the first Romans, was very frequent- 
" ly guarded by poverty and ignorance *. w 
i. 577. 

into the Christian religion many of the Stoical para- 
doxes. He asserts, that, the Christian ought to be 
exempted from passions, and that persecution is not 
an evil. ^Efawgsrw* x^x rov Vv&ruco* y^uiv Kxi tiXugv, X7rc 
VWtrtS -$/V%iX,% 7TX.G*q. JJ f£;V yxc yv&)7it 9 crvvxG-x.r t 7iv. V cv- 

4ziXV i^/X^iTXi, £ Ui~0lQ7TxQiiXV. X7TX$s(XV 2; X.X(?7T%TXl 7T0lV~ 

t;A>;j rm vjrtGvfjuc&$ vlhakh* Stromat. 1. vu c. 9. p. 777. 

Tovta Qivy&Ti s/; TJfV xXXw a% w z KXKoy to "hivxitrbxt Tret- 
p&tni i'jyav.' v,* r. % Stiomat. 1. iv. c. 10. p. 597. 
There is much more to the like purpose. But we 
have not so learnt Christ ! 

* The comparison between the primitive Chri- 
stians and the first Romans, might afford a wide field 
for criticism : and it might be shewn, that the word 
ignorance, with which the period concludes, is egre- 
giously misapplied. 

z 



266 CHAPTER IV. 

One should suppose from this conclusion, that 
the use of false hair, of warm baths, and the 
practice of shaving the beard, and the like, were 
things appropriated to the opulent, and that 
they were placed beyond the reach of the infe- 
rior ranks of mankind. 

And another inference, still more singular, 
might be drawn from it, that every thing said 
by the primitive writers on the subject of sup- 
posed luxuries, was aimed against the gratifica- 
tions in which the Heathens indulged, and had 
nothing to do with the manners of the Chris- 
tians themselves. 

Mr Gibbon forgets that he is treating of a 
period which comprehends two hundred years, 
and that his inferences are drawn from authors 
.who lived in the third century ; and he will 
find it difficult to reconcile what he says here 
with what he afterwards says, p. 591. — 596. of 
the wealth of the church, produced by the ob- 
lations of believers. 

Mr Gibbon thus proceeds : " The chaste se- 
4t verity of the Fathers, in whatever related to 
* fc the commerce of the two sexes, flowed from 
*' the same principle, their abhorrence of every 
u enjoyment which might gratify the setisual, 
€t and degrade the spiritual nature of man. It 
4t was their favourite opinion, that if Adam had 
6C preserved his obedience to the Creator, he 



CHAPTER IV,- 267 

" would have lived for ever in a state of .virgin 
" purity ; and that some harmless mode of vege- 
u tation might have peopled Paradise with a 
<fc race of innocent and immortal beings," i. 577,. 
578. 

Mr Gibbon adds, in a note, " Justin M. Gre- 
u gory of Nyssa, Augustin, &e. strongly incli- 
4 * ned to this opinion." 

The opinion of Gregory of Nyssa, of Au- 
gust in, or of any other Christian writer who 
lived after Christianity came to be established 
by law, cannot enter into Mr Gibbon's inquiry 
as to the causes of the rapid progress of our re- 
ligion *. 

It is difficult for an author to conceal his fa- 
vourite opinlonsy even when decency requires 

* By the aid of Barbeyrac, I have discovered the 
sentiments which Augustin entertained on this sub- 
ject. Although absurd enough, they do not seem to 
be such as Mr Gibbon ascribes to him. See Morale 
des Peres, civ. § 32. I have lately discovered^ 
that a very ingenious person has made the same ob- 
servation, and has pointed cut a want of accuracy in 
that historian, whom he admires. In the same cri- 
tique^ he says something of sarcasms, which is singu- 
lar enough. The treatise here alluded to, ought to 
have been intitled, " Essays on female celibacy." 
Its present title is much too ludicrous for a treatise 
written, as may be presumed, with a grave purpose. 
As to the opinion of Gregory of Nyssa, I have also, 
searched Barbeyrac, but cannot discover iu 



StirS CHAPTER IV. 

some reserve, or when prudence hinders him 
from being very explicit. But the primitive 
Writers,' who, it seems, laid down the law to ail 
other Christians, could not have been deterred 
from publishing a favourite opinion by any such 
considerations. Yet so it is, that Mr Gibbon 
has not pointed out, among the writers of the 
first three centuries, any thing of that kind, ex- 
cept in a passage of Justin M. to which he re- 
fers without quoting it. 

The distinction between sensual and spiritual^ 
which Mr Gibbon ascribes to the Fathers, was 
made by certain heretics, called Encratitce^ and 
afterwards by Marcion, and the visionaries who 
followed his opinions. 

A plain man, on perusing the first and second 
chapters of Genesis, would not have ascribed 
the holy union of the sexes to man's disobedi- 
ence ; and, on hearing the positive declaration 
of our Lord, he must have concluded that mar- 
riage was in the beginning # . 

But, unhappily, there arose in the Christian 
church many persons who affected to be wise, 
not only above what was written, but also against 
what was written ; and I doubt not that some 
one or other of those persons might have utter- 
ed the extravagancies which Mr Gibbon is plea- 



* Mattli.xix.4. & 8. 



CHAPTER IV. 269 

se. l to number among the favourite opinions of 
the primitive writers *. 

To return from those visionaries to Mr Gib- 
bon : He says, " the use of marriage was per- 
" mitted only to the fallen posterity of Adam, 
6i as a necessary expedfent to continue the hu- 
" man species, &c. — The hesitation of the or- 
44 thodox casuists on this interesting subject, be- 
66 trays the perplexity of men, unwilling to ap- 
" prove an institution which they were com- 
44 pelled to tolerate f " i. 578. 

* Of the first author of this unexampled absur- 
dity, I know nothing.— Euripides, surnamed the 
woman-hater, introduced into his Plippolytus, a com- 
plaint and remonstrance against the gods on this 
subject. Sir Thomas Brown, as every one knows, 
repeated it ; and our great poet dignified it by his 
lines, 

" O why did God, 

" Creator wise," &c. 

The satirical declaimer, the humourist, and the of- 
fended husband, satisfied themselves with proposing 
an improvement on the works of Providence : But 
the Fathers of Mr Gibbon went farther, and con- 
jectured that man was created anew by reason of 
the fall ! 

f This is borrowed from Barbeyrac : " La verite 
" est, que les Peres de I'Eglise regardoient du moms 
" implicitement le desir du mariage, second ou pre- 
" mier, comme ayant par lui meme quelque chose 
*' d'impur, et qui tient de la corruption de notre na- • 
u tare, lis n'osoienfc cependant avouer la chose . 

zs 



270 CHAPTER IV. 

It is saidj in illustration^ that " the virgins of 
44 Africa — -permitted priests and deacons to share 
" their bed, and gloried — in their unsullied pu- 
44 rity. — This new species of martyrdom served 
" only to introduce a new scandal into the 
«* church." i. 579. 

Much attention has been bestowed in height- 
ening this picture with the warmest colours : 
but it seemed unnecessary to transcribe any 
more of his narrative than what might serve to 
render the subject intelligible. Mr Gibbon 
adds, in a note > that " Bayle has amused him- 
u self and his readers on this very delicate sub- 
u iect," Bayle treats of very delicate subjects, 

%i tout eminent, d'autant plus qu'ils falloit eloigner 
u les soupcons de conformite avec les Montanistes- 
" — -Peut-etre meme Que ces heretiques pressoient 
" les Peres par des consequences tirees de ce qu'ils 
" etablissoient eux-memes au sujet des secondes no- 
" ces, et les reduisolent par la a la necesslie de faire, 
" par rapport aux premieres, et aux secondes, ces 
4; aveus si pen d'aCcord au fond avec ieurs idees." 
Morale des Peres, civ. $ 31. 

Mr Gibbon might, without any impropriety, 
make an elegant paraphrase of the rustic French of 
Barbeyrac. It were to be wished, however, that he 
had adverted to this circumstance, that Barbeyrac 
spake of the opinions of Jerom and others, who, li- 
ving after the civil establishment of Christianity,, 
could not, by their doctrine and writings, have ei- 
ther retarded or accelerated its progress before that 
establishment* 



CHAPTER IV. 271 

with very little delicacy. His language is not 
that of a well-bred man ; and the topics on 
which he amuses himself and his readers, are 
not always judiciously chosen. It is from him 
that Mr Gibbon has borrowed the phrase of 
6i new species of martyrdom." Mr Gibbon, in 
his second volume, bestows the epithet of The 
Malicious on Bayle. 

In the notes, Cyprian, Epist. iv. is quoted as 
the voucher for this fact \ and, no doubt,-the 
natural inference from it is, that towards the 
middle of the third century, the priests and dea- 
cons of the numerous churches of Africa were 
either crazy fanatics, fit only for a mad-house, 
or luxurious hypocrites, well deserving a place 
in a house of correction. 

He will think himself indebted to me for ob- 
serving, that here he has relied on the good 
faith of others ; and that he has not consulted 
the original authority : For there is not a single 
word in the 4th epistle of Cyprian and his bre- 
thren to Pomponius, importing that any priest 
was even suspected of the indecent extravagan- 
cies with which Mr Gibbon, being himself mis- 
led, amuses his young readers. One deacon 
was suspected $ and him Pomponius, before he 
had consulted with Cyprian, prohibited from 
the exercise of his sacred functions. Why then 
did Mr Gibbon speak so positively concerning 



272 CHAPTER IV. 

the priests and deacons of Africa ? It was because 
he trusted to the eyes of another, who chose to 
see, in the works of Cyprian, what is not to be 
found there ; and thus attempted to fix an in*- 
discriminating stain on the African ecclesias- 
tics. , ohvrh^m Id ^r^ri'wQ^ 

What would be said of an historian who should 
observe, that in the reign of Queen Anne, the 
lawyers at the English bar were infidels, because 
Toland, a lawyer, wrote in that reign or that, 
in the reign of George I. the booksellers of 
London employed priests and deacons of the 
church of England to write against Christianity, 
because, in that reign, Woolston, a mad clergy- 
man, published his rhapsodies on the miracles 
of Jesus ? 

It is added, " The sensual connection was re- 
" fined into a resemblance of the mystic union 
* 6 of Christ with his church, and tvas pronoun- 
*f ced to be indissoluble either by divorce or d-eathP 

This extraordinary proposition is not sup- 
ported by any authorities ; and yet it would re- 
quire some very strong evidence indeed, to per- 
suade us, that in the former case the primitive 
writers directly contradicted our Lord, and in 
the latter, St Paul *< 

* Matth. xix. 9. \ Rom. vii. 1. 2. $ i. Cor. vii. 39, 
From the similitude of marriage and the mystic union 
of Christ with his church, the fair conclusion is, that 



CHAPTER IV. . 273 

* 4 The practice of second nuptials was brand- 
" ed with the name of a legal adultery; and 
fc< the persons who were guilty of so scandalous 
44 an offence against Christian purity, were soon 
i( excluded from the honours, and even from 
4J the alms, of the church." There is added in 
a note, " See a chain of tradition, from Justin 
* Martyr to Jerome, in the Morale des Peres y 
" c iv. §6.-16." i. 578. 

M. Barbeyrac, on this occasion, serves as the 
substitute of Mr Gibbon, so it is against him 
that my argument must be directed. Some 
things, however, ought to be observed in- the 
entrance. 

The opinion of seven or eight individuals^ 
who lived in different ages and countries, can 
hardly form « a chain of tradition." 

As to " the chain of tradition" after the es- 
tablishment of Christianity by law, it is not 
connected with Mr Gibbon's subject, or with, 
the purpose of these observations. 

And with regard to the opinions of Christian 
writers who lived before that cera, it may, per- 
haps, appear in the sequel, that Mr Gibbon 

adultery or wilful desertion, dissolves marriage, not 
that marriage is indissoluble 3 and the case, of the 
death of one of the parties, has no concern wiOi 
that mystic union, of which Mr Gibbon so speaks as 
if he understood it not. 



274 CHAPTER IV. 

ought rather to have relied on his own reading, 
and his own impartial judgement, than on hasty 
compilations made by Barbeyrac in the heat of 
controversy. 

. Thus much having been premised, let us ex- 
amine the different links in this chain of tradi- 
tion forged by Barbeyrac. 

According to Mr Gibbon, the first testimony 
to the unlawfulness of second marriages is to be 
found in Justin Martyr. 

It happens, however, that in the 4th chapter 
of Morale des Peres , Barbeyrac does not quote 
Justin Martyr at all. 

In another passage, indeed, he quotes some 
words of a fragment on the Resurrection, which 
he is willing to acknowledge as the work of 
Justin Martyr ■*. But that quotation, supposing 
it to have been rightly interpreted by Barbey- 
rac, tends to condemn marriage altogether ; and 
surely an heretical tenet of the Encratita y and 
afterwards of Marcion, had no countenance 
from the principles or practice of orthodox 
Christians ! This affords a presumption, at least, 
that the work quoted by Barbeyrac had not 
Justin M. for its author ; at any rate, the pas- 
sage proves too much, and therefore it will not 
serve for the decision of the present contro- 
versy. 

* Morale des Peres, c. ii. |* ~, 



CHAPTER IV. 275 

** Irenaus" says Barbeyrac, " speaks of the 
<c Samaritan woman as being a fornicatrix, be- 
M cause she had married many times But 
there is nothing in the words of Iremeus which 
implies, that he supposed the Samaritan woman 
to have been wont to marry one husband after 
the decease of another \ ; or that he understood 
the words of the gospel in any other sense than 
that in which Jerome and every other commen- 
tator of note understand them. 

Barbeyrac has made a large commentary on 
a passage in Athena gcr a which, it is imagined, 
condemns second marriages. 

Every one conversant in ecclesiastical anti- 
quity, knows that Athenagoras was, in many 
particulars, an ill-informed Christian, and one 
who blended Platonic notions with the doctrine 
of Scripture : so that his sentiments as to second 
marriages, be they what they will, cannot go a 

* M St Irenee traite la Samaritaine de Forniea- 
u trice, pour s*estre mariee plusieurs fois" c. iv. 

§14. 

-f- " Miserante Domino Samaritange illi praevari- 
u catrici, quae in uno viro non mansit, sed forni- 
44 cata est in multis nuptiis." Adv. Hseres. iii. IT. 
edit. Massuet. 

% C. xxviii. p. 223.— 226. edit. Lindneri. At 
that place there are some notes worthv of peru- 



276 CHAPTER IV. 

great way in forming this mighty « chain of tra- 
« dition 

Although we should leave Barbeyrac in pos- 
session of an obscure authority*, from an ob- 
scure writer, we cannot allow him to found his 
proof on the authority of Theophllus^ Bishop of 
Antioch, whom he has egregiously mistransla- 
ted. 

Theophilus says, that " among the Christian^ 
u the union of one man and one woman is ob- 
** served;" that is, the Christians are monogamist 's y 
in opposition to the received sense of the word 
pohjgamists ; and what Theophilus said of his 
contemporaries, may be said of all Christians at 
this day. Barbeyrac, however, chuses to tran- 
slate the phrase Qufoiyctpj* n^srra*] thus : " The 
« Christians, as such, — take care not to tnarry mors 
** than once j" or, u are sure not to marry a se- 
tt cond tune f ? He understood Greek \ what 
then shall we say of such a translation ? 

Barbeyrac says, that Clemens Alexandrians 
defines marriage to be, the first union which is 

* Much might he said for shewing that Athenago 
ras speaks of polygamy and illicit connections with 
women, not of second marriages. The question 
turns chiefly on the sense of the word g^y^siv. 

•f " Les Chretiens, comme tels — se donnent garde 
w de se niarier plus dhins foisP c. iv. § 1 4. This 
colloquial form of language is imitated in the trans^ 
lation. 



CHAPTER I'/. 277 

« contracted according to the law, between a 
« man and a woman, for the procreating of le- 
ft gitimate children # and the translator adds, 
by way of inference from the words which he 
puts in the mouth of Clemens Alexandrinus, 
that, " according to this definition, a second union 
" is not truly a marriage.'*' 

Let us see, however, whether the following 
be not a more just translation. " Now, mar- 
« riage is the union of a man and a woman, for 
" the purpose of procreating children legiti- 
" mately : it is the first [or the earliest] union 
" instituted by the law of God f ." 

The next passage quoted by Barbeyrac from 
Clemens Alexandrinus, runs thus in his transla- 
tion. " Every one of us has liberty to marry, 
« according to the law, what woman he chuses ; 
« I speak of a first marriage J." 

* " Clement d'Alexandrie, Strom. 5. 23. definit 
le manage, la premiere union qui se fait selon la loi, 
u entre un liemme et une femme, pour procreer des 
" enfans legitimes. Une seconde union n'est done pas 
" un vrai manage, selon cette definition," c. it. 
§ 15. Barbeyrac joins the first [>j Tr^fn] with union % 
[o-t/v :=So:], and yet his argument seems to join it with 
marriage This he could not do openly, for 

yaw, vi 7T£#t*j. would have been false Greek. 

-f- TotfAog uiy gv i<,i crwohog w-i^cg feca yv'vxucg i 

%&T& 70V VOfAOV) l7Tt yy^lUV 7iKWV eTFOQOt. StrOm. 1. ii. 

C. 23. 

X " Chacun de nous a le pouvoir d'espouser, selon 

A a 



378 CHAPTER IT. 

I should incline to paraphrase the words of 
the original after this manner. " Every Chri- 
« stian, without exception, may marry whom 
* c he chuses, provided always that there be no 
< € impediment by the divine law, £%s*t* tov vouov 
• yecpuv']. In mentioning this general permis- 
" sion, I speak of first marriages 

Barbeyrac appears to have understood the 
passage in this sense : " All Christians may 
« marry once> but no Christian may marry twice. 9 * 
It is more probable, however, that Clemens 
Alexandrinus alludes to the rule, which began 
to prevail in his own times, of excluding eccle- 
siastics from the liberty of second marriages. 

In this view, the sense of Clemens Alexan- 
drinus will be, that all Christians may marry 
once, but that second marriages are not permit- 
ted to all ; for, according to an interpretation 
of Scripture then received, a bishop must be, 
" the husband of one wife." 

The only otier passage which Barbeyrac 
quotes from this writer on the present subject, 
is that fanciful one, exhibiting, as it should seem, 

" la loi, quelle femme il veut : j 'en tens en premieres 
" noces." c. iv. § 15. 

* A AX 9 o x,x(f ZKuecv ipiov, Tfiv civ fivters&i KOtTd TOV V6- 

l;iiL c. 11. 



CHAPTER IV. 279 

3 parallel between polytheism and polygamy * * 
and, consequently., having no relation to second 
marriages. 

« Tertullian " says Barbeyrac, 44 in answering 
" the accusations of lewdness brought against 
" the Christians, observes, that so far from 
" abandoning themselves to any thing of that 
" nature, they limited to one woman the natu- 
44 ral use of the sex in marriage \ and, after he 
44 had given himself up to Montanism, he did 
41 but express the like sentiments in stronger 
" words f 

The quotation from the Apology of Tertullian 
is very obscure ; or, to speak more properly, it 
is unintelligible J. 

Barbeyrac might have produced many pas- 
sages in which Tertullian condemns, and even 

tv ix.7TT6}7^, Strom, I. iii. c. 12. 

f u Tertullien, dans son Apologetique, repond 
11 aux accusations d'impurete internees contre les 
44 Chretiens, que bien loin de s'abandonner a rien d'- 
44 approchant, Us bornent me??ie a une settle femme 
44 usage nature/ du sexe dans le manage. Quand 
u ce Pere eut donne dans le Montanisme, il ne fit 
44 que s'exprimer plus fortement sur ce sujet." c. iv r 
§ 16. 

% €i Christianus ad sexiirn nec foeminse mutate* 
Apol. c. 46. Here some words have been either 
omitted or incorrectly copied by transcribers. 



280 CHAPTER IV. 

execrates second marriages. The very first 
words of his treatise de Monogamia are, « The 
4 \ heretics take away marriage, the carnal men 
u reiterate it ; the former do not marry at all, 
u the latter marry more than once *-P 

By « the heretics/ 5 he is understood to mean 
the followers of Marcion \ and there can be no 
doubt that the phrase " carnal men/ 5 describes 
those whom, in ^common language, we should 
call " orthodox Christians," that is, those who 
remained within the pale of the church, instead 
of following Tertullian, who held that Monta- 
nus was the Comforter [Paracletus] promised by 
our Lord f. 

From the tenor of Tertullian's treatise de 
Monogamia, it is plain that the Christians of his 

* " Hseretlci nuptias auferunt, Psychici Ingerunt* « 
Illi nec semel, illi non semel nubunt." De Mono- 
gamia, in pr. 

f It was bold iii Tertullian thus to apply a phrase, 
which St Paul uses to describe those who have no 
right to the name of Christians, -^v^tx.^ §a avQ'g&7rc$ 
y difczreii rot rx UvivpxTos ra ©sa. i. Cor. ii. 14. That 
by Psychici Tertullian meant the Christians, is plain 
from his own words, adversus Praxeam, c. 1. " Et 
" nos quidem postea agnitio Paracleti atque defensio 
" disjunxit a Psyckicis." It may be observed, in 
passing, that Tertullian takes the divine mission of 
JVIontanus for granted, and imagines that the whim- 
sies of that visionary ought to give law to the Apo- 
stles. 



CHAPTER IV. 



age, or, at least of his country, entered into se- 
cond marriages without scruple or hesitation, 
and that he himself was imbued in fanaticism 
and heresy. In evidence of this, some passages 
are added in a note # . In general, they are 

* 44 \PsycIiici~\ Monogamiae disciplinam in haere- 
44 sin exprobant, nec ulla magis ex causa Paracletum 
44 negare coguntur, quam dam existimant novae disci- 
" plinae institutorem, ec quidem durissimae illis, ut 
44 jam de hoc primum conistendum sit in generali 
44 retractatu, an capiat Paracletum aliquid tale docu- 
44 isse, quod aut novum deputari possit adversus Ca- 
Ci tholicam traditionem, aut onerosum adversus levem 
H sarcinam Domini ? De utroque autem ipse Domi- 
" nus pronunciavit, dicens [1. dixit] enim, adhue 
44 multa liaheo quce loquar ad vos sed noiidum po- 
44 testis portare ea i quum venerit Spiritus Sanctus^ 
44 ille vos ducet in omnetn veritatem ; satis utique prae- 
44 tendit ea acturum ilium quae et nova existimari 
44 possint, ut nunquam retro edita, et aliquanto one- 
H rosa, ut idcirco non edita." d. Monogamia, c. 2. 
After having vainly endeavoured to elude the argu- 
ments in favour of second marriages drawn from the 
doctrines of St Paul, Tertullian has recourse to a 
desperate hypothesis j 44 ita res exigebant, ut [Paulus] 
i4 omnibus omnia fieret, quo omnes lucrifacerat, par- 
44 turiens illos donee formaretur Christus in ipsis, et 
44 calefaciens, tanquam nutrix, parvulos fidei, docen- 
w do qusedam per veniam, non per imperium, (aliud 
H est enim indulgere, aliud jubere), proinde tempo- 
44 ralem licentiam permittens, denuo nubendi propter 
14 infirmitatem carnis, quemadmodum Moyses repu- 
44 diandi propter duritiam cordis. Et hie itaque red- 
14 demus supplementum sensus istius ; si enim Chri- 
6 * stus abstulit quod Moyses praecepit, quia ab initio' 

A a 3 



£82 CHAPTER IV. 

too absurd to admit of a translation, which might 
offend many, and could edify none. I venture, 
however, to translate one passage, which plainly 

" non fuit sic, nec sic ideo ab alia venisse virtute re- 
" putabitur Christus, cur non et Paracletus abstule- 
" rit, quod Paulus indulsit r quia et secundum ma- 
" trirnonium ab initio non fuit, nec ideo suspectus 
H habendus sit, quasi spiritus alienus, tantum ut Deo 
" et Chris to dignum sit quod superinducitur. Si 
" Deo et Christo dignum fuit duritiam cordis tem- 
" pore expleto compescere, cur non dignum sit et 
*$ Deo et Christo tempore collectiore discutere } Si 
"JustuBa est, matrimpnium non separari, utique et 
" non iterare honestum est. Denique apud seculum 
" utrumque in bona disciplina deputatur, aliud con- 
" cordis nomina, aliud pudiciiise. Regnavit duritia 
16 cordis usque ad Christum, regnavit et inflrmitas 
" carnis usque ad Parade turn. Nova lex abstulit 
" repudium, habuit quod auferret \ nova prophetia, 
" secundum matrimonium, non minus repudium pri- 
" oris, sed facilius duritia cordis cessit, quam innrmi- 
" tas carnis," ib. c. X-i-. There is much more raving 
to the like purpose, and the tendency of the whole 
is to prove that the perfection of Christian morals is 
only to be found in the rhapsodies of Montanus. 
. Mosheim says, " Montanus was not so devoid of 
u reason as to suppose himself to have been the Pa- 
" r aclete, or the Holy Spirit j he only asserted, that 
" the Holy Spirit spake by him : But the obscure 
" language of Tertuliian, who very often calls Mon- 
M tanus by that name, has been the sole cause of the 
" inaccurate manner in which both ancients and mo- 
" derns have treated this subject." [Quod vero et 
veteres et recentiores sententiam suam ambigue, nec 
satis luculenter expresserunt, Tertulliani unice obscu- 



CHAPTER IV. 2S3 

indicates the situation of the unfortunate man's 
mind. " Dido, the Oueen of Carthage, shall 
u rise up in judgement against Christian women; 
" for she, being a fugitive in a foreign soil, and 
" about to become the chief foundress of a 
" mighty state, had good reason to seek to be 
<{ united in wedlock with the sovereign of the 
4; country ; and yet she chose rather to burn 
" than to marry a second time 

Thus speaks Tertullian, " whose authority 
w might have influenced the professions, the 

ritas effecit, qui Montanum saepissime Parac/etum 
nominat : cujus quidem verba et sermonis genus 
imitati sunt.] d. Reb. Christian, ante Constantin. M. 
p. 413. After having thus contradicted every body, 
and laid all the blame on the obscurity of Tertul- 
lian's language, he thus concludes : " All that re- 
" mains for us to suppose is, that Montanus was dis- 
" eased both in body and mind, and perhaps might 
" be charged with a pious fraud." [Hoc unum re- 
linquitur, ut animo hominem et corpore etiam segro- 
tasse credamus, nisi forte piae fraudis eum arguere 
velimus.] And . thus Mosheim unravels his whole 
tveb ) for, if we suppose Montanus to have been dis- 
ordered in his judgement, and suspect him of knave- 
ry, all that Tertullian and other writers have said of 
him will be abundantly probable. 

* " Exsurget Regina Carthaginis, et decernet in 
" Christianas, quae profuga et in alieno solo, et tantae 
" civitatis cum maxime formatrix, cum Regis nup- 
" tias ultro optasse debuisset, ne tamen secundas eas 
" experiretur, maluit e contrario uri quam nubere^ 
ib> c. 17* 



284 CHAPTER IV. 

6 * principles, and even the practice of his con- 
6< temporaries !" 

He is one link in Mr Gibbon's " chain of tra- 
a dition," and the chain breaks at him j for, al- 
though his judgement be decidedly against se- 
cond marriages, his testimony proves that the 
Christians of his age held them to be lawful ; 
nav more, that the doctrine of the lawfulness of 
second marriages served as one of the marks 
for discriminating the orthodox church from 
the deluded and frantic votaries of Montanus. 

And this naturally leads me to point out a 
mistake into which Mr Gibbon has fallen. 

Barbeyrac charged the ancient Christian wri- 
ters with some erroneous opinions respecting 
% morals - ? and having been contradicted by Pere 
Ceillier, he undertook not only to support, but 
to aggravate his charge. This he did hastily 
and carelessly, and in the style of a prejudiced 
and angry controversist, but without ascribing 
to the Christians at large those erroneous opi- 
nions which he partly found, and partly imagi- 
ned that he had found, in the works of the an- 
cient Christian writers. 

Mr Gibbon, not adverting to the distinction 
between the sentiments of individuals and the 
tenets and practice of the Catholic church, sup- 
poses every thing that Barbeyrac reports as the 
sentiment of any Christian writer, to have been- 



CHAPTER TV. 285 

the doctrine admitted and established among 
Christians. Hence, for example, he says, that 
second marriages were held to be " a scanda- 
4fc lous offence against Christian purity. 35 

We return to the " chain of tradition." Ear- 
beyrac quotes Minudus Felix as saying, that 
44 a Christian either does not marry at all, or 
" only marries once." He adds, that " in ano- 
44 ther passage, Minucius seems to make a se- 
44 cond marriage be considered as adultery # ." 

Here there are two quotations from Minu- 
cius. The sense of the former is ambiguous ; 
and Barbeyrac himself hesitates as to the sense 
in which he is willing that the latter should be 
understood. 

According to Barbeyrac, Minucius says, that 
u a Christian either does not marry at all, or 
11 only marries once." This might seem to im- 
ply that the Christians preferred celibacy to 
marriage. Minucius, however, means no such 
thing, nor could he with truth have said it. 

The passage may be thus translated. " W e 
u willingly cleave to the bond of one marriage, 
4< and we either limit to one woman our desire 
4< of having children, or \ve remain in pure ce- 

* " Minucius Felix dit, qu\un Chretien ou ne se 
" marie jamais^ ou ne se marie qifune fois, c. 31. 
" II sqrnble ailleurs faire regarder les secondes noces, 
" ccmmc un adult ere ^ c. 



2S6 CHAPTER IV. 

4t libacy*." This is said in answer to the charge 
of promiscuous lewdness brought against the 
Christians ; and it has no necessary connection 
with the case of second marriages. Minucius 
probably meant to contrast the behaviour of the 
Christians with that of the Heathens > who fre- 
quently put away their wives that they might 
marry again and who, for the most part, were 
neither chaste in wedlock nor in a single life. 

The second quotation from Minucius does 
not consider second marriages as adultery. The 
author,, speaking of the capricious varieties in 
Pagan worship, says, " the wife of one hus- 
" band hangs her garland on some statues -> but 
" to do this on others, is permitted to her 
« only who is the wife of many [multivira], 
« and the woman who can number most aduU 
« teries is scrupulously sought after f 

Every scholar knows that, in certain religious 
rites among the Heathens, those women alone 
officiated who had never been married unless to 
one man ; but no scholar will say, that there 
were other religious rites in which those women 

* " Unius matrimonii 1 vinculo libenter inheremus, 
u cupiditatem procreandi aut unam scimus, aut nul- 
" lam," c. 31. 

f " Alia sacra coronat univira, alia multivira, et 
cl magna religione conquiritur, quae plura possit adid- 
" teria numerare," c. 24* 



CH APTER nr. 28T 
alone officiated who had married a second hus- 
band after the death of the first. 

Barbeyrac durst not maintain such a proposi- 
tion \ but he laid hold of the ambiguity of the 
words muhivira and adult eria^ ventured to draw 
from them an " it should seem," [jl semble\ and 
then left it to others to make what use of them 
they could. 

In common language, muhivira means one 
who is connected with many men, and adulteria 
means whoredoms. It is perfectly plain that 
Minucius alludes to women who never thought 
of marrying, to the prostitutes who attended 
the temples of Venus. 

And therefore it is to be hoped that we shall 
hear no more of this quotation from Minucius, 
as reprobating second marriages, or as placing 
them on a level with adultery. 

« Origen," says Barbeyrac, « lays it down for 
" certain, that second marriages exclude from 
« the kingdom of heaven # ." 

To this I might answer, 1, That Origen, for 
reasons well known, and unnecessary to be 

* " Origene pose en fait, comme une chose indu- 
14 bitable, que les secondes noces excluent du Royaumc 

** de Dieu." " Nunc vero et secundae, et tertiae, 

" et quarlse nuptiae, ut de pluribus tacearn, repenun- 
u tur, et non ignoramus quod tale conjugium ejiciet 
u nos de regno Dei/' in Luc. Homil. xvii. 



283 CHAPTER IV. 

mentioned, could not be a competent judge of 
the propriety or expediency either of a first or 
of a second marriage. 

2. That to quote Origen for proving what 
were the principles and the professions of the 
Catholic church, is to assert the orthodoxy of 
Origen. 

3. That, as appears from the context, Origen 
opposed his own sentiments to the practice of 
the Christians of that age ; and so his evidence 
directly contradicts the tradition for which Bar- 
bey rac quotes it. 

But another answer occurs, and that is, that 
Barbeyrac has either grossly misunderstood, or 
wilfully misinterpreted Origen. That learned 
and fanciful man, by " kingdom of God," meant 
not u heaven," or " a blessed hereafter," but 
" some transcendent and peculiar state of glory;" 
and so he explains himself in the sequel of the 
Tery sentence quoted by Barbeyrac *. 

* " Sicut enim ab Ecclesiasiicis dignltatibus non 
solum fornicatio, sed et nuptiae repellunt, neque enim 
Episcopus, nec Presbyter, nec diacorms, nec vidua 
M possunt esse digami, sic forsitan et de coetu primi- 
" tivorum immaculatorumque Ecclesise, quae non ha- 
" bet maculam neque rugam, ejicietur digamus. Non 
" quo in aeternum mittatur incendium, sed quo par- 
tern non habeat in regno Dei. — Pute enim mo- 
" nogamum et virginem, et eum qui in castimonia 
14 perse verat f esse de Ecclesia Dei; eum vero qui sit 



CHAPTER IV. 28B 

Barbeyrac quotes another passage from Ori- 
gen, as if it condemned second marriages. But, 
without attempting to support or vindicate the 
argument which Origen uses, let me observe, 
that he is there speaking of the case of an old 
man who marries again # . This it is which he 
condemns, and possibly there are worse heresies 
in his voluminous works. 

Thus have I examined all the passages that 
Barbeyrac, in his fourth chapter, quotes from 
the Christian writers who lived before the esta- 
blishment of Christianity by law ; and the re- 
sult, so far as agreeable to the hypothesis of Mr 
Gibbon, is, that an ambiguous passage in Athen- 

M digamus, licet bonam habeat conversation em, et 
V et caeteris virtutibus polleat, tamen non esse de Ec- 
6i clesia, et de eo numero, qui non habet rugam et 
" maculam, aut aliquid istiusmodi : sed esse de se- 
a cundo gradu, et de his qui invocant nomen Domi- 
w ni, et qui sahantur quidem in nomine Iesu Chri- 
44 sti, nequaquam tamen coronancur ab eo." ib. In 
tills, as in many other passages of Origen, we may 
discern that desire of being wise above what is writ- 
Ten, and that unhappy spirit of refinement, which 
led a very learned, and, I doubt not, a very worthy 
man, into numberless errors and heresies : yet, not- 
withstanding all this, Origen was not guilty of the 
extravagance imputed to him by Barbeyrac. 

* La Morale des Peres, c iv. $ LS. " pvr* tw 
In Joann. vol. ii. p. 295. edit. Kuet. 

B b 



290 CHAPTER IV. 

agoras seems to condemn second marriages - r 
and that Tertullian, a fanatic of the chief sect 
of fanatics, not only condemns therm, but pre- 
sumes to censure the orthodox Christians for 
maintaining their lawfulness. To these autho- 
rities, Mr Gibbon may, if he chuses, add that of 
Origen. Of such materials is a chain of tra- 
dition, which extends through three centuries, 
composed ! 

Not satisfied with a general reference to Bar- 
beyrac, Mr Gibbon makes two observations on 
his own authority. He says, that they who 
married a second time " were soon excluded 
w from the honours, and even from the alms of 
" the church." 

He ought not to have said " soon j" for as to 
his first observation, he might have learnt of 
Barbeyrac, that the practice of excluding Di- 
gamists from the Episcopal office, had its origin 
about the end of the second, or the beginning of 
the third century *j and he might have remark- 
ed, that Tertullian ventures to reprehend the 
orthodox Christians of his age for suffering Di- 
gamists to preside in their assemblies f . 

* Morale des Feres, c. nr. § 23. 

f " Digami president apud vos," d. Monogamia, 
c. 12, It is true that Tertullian else-vhere says, 



CHAPTER 1% 291 

As to Mr Gibbon's second observation, that 
Digamists " were soon excluded from the alms 
ff of the church/' I know not on what it is 
founded. Barbeyrac quotes a singular passage 
from Jerom*, which he understands in that 
sense *, but be the sense of the passage what it 
will, we cannot, with any propriety, apply the 
word " soon" to the times of Jerom, as if he had 
lived in the early days of Christianity. 

Perhaps Mr Gibbon alludes to the widows 
who performed the office of deaconesses in the 
primitive church, and who, no doubt, were sup- 
ported by the contributions of the church which 
they served. There might be good reason for 
not allowing them to marry again ; or, if they 
did, for withdrawing the contributions of the 
church from them. To illustrate this by a fa- 
m iliar example : Certain members of the Church 
of England are governors of an hospital \ they 

" Usque adeoquosdam memini digamos locodejectos," 
d. Exhort. Castit. c. 7. This, however, cannot af- 
ford any proof of a constant practice, especially 
when we consider the former quotation from the 
same author. The notes [e] and [h] by Rigaltius, 
on Tertullian's treatise ad Uxorem, 1. i. c. 7. well 
deserve to be perused. They speak the language of 
an intelligent and candid Roman Catholic. 

* Morale des Peres, c. iv. § 21. The passage 
quoted is contra Jovinian. 1. i. p. 2S. 



£32 CHAPTER Tv 7 . 

require that the matron of the hospital be a sin- 
gle woman, or a widow ; and they declare that 
if she marry, she shall lose her office, and the 
salary annexed to it ; and yet, from such an ex- 
ample, it would be somewhat rash to conclude, 
that those members of the Church of England 
either recommended celibacy, or blamed second 
marriages. 



298 



CHAPTER V. 

In connecting his fifth secondary cause with the 
fourth^ Mr Gibbon says, " But the human cha- 
" racter, however it may be exalted or depres- 
" sed by a temporary enthusiasm, will return by 
" degrees to its natural level, and will resume 
" those passions that seem the most adapted to 
« its present condition." i. 581. 

What shall we say ? Were the virtues of the 
primitive Christians, to which, in the preceding 
section, Mr Gibbon had ascribed the rapid pro- 
gress of Christianity, merely the effects of a 
temporary enthusiasm, exalting or debasing the 
human character ? 

Surely this cannot be his meaning ; for we 
have already seen, that he began his Disquisi- 
tions with these solemn and serious words : 
« Our curiosity is naturally prompted to inquire 
" by what means the Christian faith obtained 
*« so remarkable a victory over the established 
" religions of the earth. To this inquiry, an 
" obvious, but a satisfactory answer may be re- 
" turned, that it was owing to the convincing 

B b 3 



2'9i CHAPTER Y. 

evidence of the doctrine itself,, and to the ru- 
" ling providence of its great Author." i. 536. 

Since then God was the author of Christian- 
ity, as Mr Gibbon expresses it, and his ruling 
providence was its primary cause, a temporary 
entliusiasm can hardly be numbered among the 
secondary causes of its rapid progress. 

And, therefore, we may suppose that the 
But of Mr Gibbon is used instead of the obso- 
lete word Aloreover • and that it has no more 
connection with what went before, than an An- 
glo-Saxon & would have had in like circum- 
stances. 

Be this as it may, the human character having 
returned by degrees to its natural level, " re- 
M sumes those passions that seem the most 
« adapted to its present condition." And now 
we may expect to see the Christians act just as 
other men, neither exalt ed y by enthusiasm, above 
the state of humanity, nor sunk, by the like en- 
thusiasm, below the standard of right reason. 

The fifth secondary cause of the rapid pro- 
gress of Christianity is said to have been " the 
" union and discipline of the Christian republic, 
" which gradually formed an independent and 
« increasing state in the heart of the Roman 
« empire Vfhat Mr Gibbon had said just 

* Mr Gibbon paints after a sketch given by Vol- 
taire. " Les assemblees secrettes, qui bravoieni d'- 



CHAPTER V. 295 

before, explains the meaning of the word gra- 
dually ; for he observes, that " the Christian 
" religion grew up in silence and obscurity." 

And here a question arises : If the union and 
discipline of the church were established in con- 
sequence of the human character returning by 
degrees to its natural level ; if the Christian re- 
ligion grew up in silence and obscurity ; and if it 
gradually formed an independent and increasing 
republic •, how are these things consistent with 
its rapid progress ? Yet the rapid progress of 
Christianity is the fact admitted, and the pur- 
pose of Mr Gibbon's inquiry is to discover what 
were its secondary causes. 

Every intelligent and attentive reader will 
observe, that, in treating of tmsjifth cause.* Mr 
Gibbon does not confine his researches to the 
early times of Christianity, but that he " blends 
" in eloquent confusion *" the events which 
are said to have happened at different times. 

Thus he observes, " The community of goods, 
« which had agreeably amused the imagination 

u abord, dans des caves et dans des grottcs, l'autori- 
" te des Empereurs Romalns, formerent peu a peu 
" un etat dans Petal." Siecle'de Louis XIV. 

* This is an expression which Mr Gibbon em- 
ploys in speaking of Burnet, the author of the The- 
ory of the Earth, i. 555. and not without cause; for, 
in flowery language and bad reasoning, that work 
can hardly be paralleled. 



296 CHAPTER %. 

« of Plato, — was adopted, for a short time, by 
" the primitive Christians *." i. 591. " A 
" scheme of policy — was adopted for the use of 
" the first century." i. 583. " The Episcopal 
" form of government appears to have been 
" introduced before the end of the first century" 

* Here Mr Gibbon notes, that " Mosheim, in a 
" particular dissertation, attacks the common opi- 
44 nion with very inconclusive arguments." I have 
seen, but not perused the dissertation so much slight- 
ed by Mr Gibbon. I have perused another work of 
Mosheim, relating to the same subject, which con- 
tains the following passage : " The vulgar opinion 
" about a community of goods among Christians, is 
" the rather to be exploded, as some think they have 
" a handle given them by it to attack Christianity 
" itself. Hence, some modern enemies of that reli- 
" gion make it their chief study to persuade the ig- 
" norant, that the precepts of Christ are better suit- 
" ed to deserts, and to the sands of Lybia, than to 
" well-ordered states and governments. Were that 
" the case^ such precepts could very hardly, if at all, 
" be considered as divine." f Tanto diligentius vul- 
garis de communione bonorum opinio exstirpanda est, 
quanto multis ilia videtur aptior ad vim Christianas 
religionis divinitati inferendam : recentiorum enim 
religionis Christianae hostium aliqui id agunt potissi- 
mum, ut rerum imperitis persuadeant, Christi precep- 
ta desertis potius locis, et arenis Lybicis, quam civi- 
tatibus et rebus publicis bene constitutis, accommo- 
data esse : quod si verum esset, vix, ac ne vix qui- 
dem, pro divinis haberi possunt.— Institutiones His- 
toriae Christians Majores, saec. i. part. i. c. iv. § 4. 
not. *.] 



CHAPTER V. =Wi 

i. 5S5. Such was the " mild and equal consti- 
" tution by which the Christians were governed 
« own //w;/ hundred years after the death of 
i tfr Apostles:' i. 5S6. « Towards the end of the 
« ftfe-fcid century, the churches of Greece and 
fff Asia adopted the useful institutions of pro- 
« vincial synods." i. 5S6. " The office of per- 
« petual presiients in the councils of each pro- 
" vince was conferred on the bishops of the 
" principal cities ; and these aspiring prelates, 
« who soon acquired the lofty titles of Metro- 
* pohtans and Primates, secretly prepared them- 
" selves to usurp over their Episcopal brethren 
" the same authority which the Bishops had so 
" lately assumed above the college of Presby- 
ff ters." i. 589. " The prelates of the third cen- 
u tury imperceptibly changed the language of 
W exhortation into that of command." i. 587. 
And, to add but one example more : Mention 
is made of the discordant decrees pronounced 
by the councils of Ancyra and Illiberis, after 
the persecution which Diocletian raised against 
the Christians, towards the close of tlie third cen- 
tury, i. 598. 

Thus Mr Gibbon takes a wide view of the 
Christian church from its infancy until its ma- 
ture state *, and, from the history of different 
ages, he draws his conclusion, That an indepen- 
dent republic was gradually formed in the Ro- 



29$ CHAPTER V. 

man state ; and that the union and discipline 
of the church, became the -fifth secondary cause 
of the rapid progress of Christianity. 

One might be apt to suppose, that a less muta- 
ble form of ecclesiastical government would have 
been better adapted for producing that change 
wluch actually took place, than one impercepti- 
bly varying from a college of Presbyters to the 
lofty dominion of Metropolitans and Primates ; 
and that the contradictory decrees of provincial 
synods, such as those of Ancyra and Illiberis, 
would have weakened, instead of strengthening, 
the discipline of this great and independent re- 
public. 

It is remarkable, that during the course of 
three centuries, there should not have been any 
false brother found to disclose this Christian 
plot, and no Heathen magistrates vigilant or 
judicious enough to receive his information. 

And it is singular, even in our own age, an 
age of fanciful theories, that the rapid pro- 
gress of Christianity should be ascribed to the 
Usurpations of Metropolitans and Primates. 

In his preamble to the account of the origin 
and progress of this new government, Mr Gib- 
bon observes, that " the primitive Christians 
« were dead to the business and pleasures of the 
« world ; but that their love of action, which 
" could never be entirely extinguished, soon re- 



CHAPTER V. 29§ 

<* vived, and found a new occupation in the 
C( government of the church." i. 581. 

" Dead to the business of the world/' is an 
uncommon expression, and therefore we must, 
first of all, endeavour to have its meaning as- 
certained. 

By " business of the world," Mr Gibbon can- 
not mean " the diligent exercise of any particu- 
" lar calling ;" for, in that sort of business the 
Christians were, of all men, the most alive. 
With them, diligence in their calling was a duty 
prescribed in the most explicit terms, and enfor- 
ced by argument And Mr Gibbon himself 
admits, that, in conformity with the precepts of 
St Paul, the primitive Christians were inured 
to (( ceconomy, and all the sober and domestic 
" virtues." 

It should seem, then, that " the business of 
w the worid" implies the being occupied in pu- 
blic offices, either civil or military. 

In the Roman state, as in all -other states, 
some civil offices were burdens, not benefits ; 
and, instead of being solicited, were imposed. 
The primitive Christians could not have plead- 
ed any exemption from them ; and undoubted- 
ly thev must have borne their share of sucli 



* Ephes. iv. 28. 5 1 Thess. iv. 11. 12. ; 2 Thess. 
i&. S. 10. 12. 



300 CHAPTER V. 

burdens in equal proportion at least with that of 
the Heathens of their own rank. 

It may well be supposed that offices of ho- 
nour and emolument were rarely granted to the 
primitive Christians. The mediocrity of their 
station in life, the ill-will of the Heathens, and 
their own abhorrence of the popular worship, 
all serve to lead to this conclusion. 

These observations, however, must be limited 
to the more early ages of the church : for, in 
the third century, the face of things changed. 
When the Christians became more numerous, 
and were strengthened, to appearance at least, 
by the accession of the wise and the learned to 
their society, they, no doubt, mixed in " the 
« business of the world" more than their pre- 
decessors had a fair opportunity of doing ; and 
there are even examples of their having been 
admitted into the favour and confidence of 
Heathen Emperors. 

Military offices ought to be viewed in a light 
somewhat different. 

From the time at which sovereign power at 
Rome ceased to be hereditary, the armies of the 
empire gradually became its masters. As, in 
our days, there is nothing short of the dignity 
of the Dey to limit the ambition of an Algerine 
recruit, so was it in the Decline of the Roman 
empire. Every intrepid, active, and unprinci- 
1 



CHAPTER V. 301 

pled soldier, however obscure his birth and ori- 
ginal station, might have aspired to the Purple-, 
and indeed it is astonishing to see the number 
of those who ascended from the meanest mili- 
tary offices to absolute dominion. 

There could not have been any difficulty in 
finding soldiers for armies possessed of so great 
influence and power ; and it is natural to sup- 
pose that such military service ill accorded with 
the dispositions of the primitive Christians. To 
bear arms in defence of the state, was agree- 
able to their principles ; but if any of them 
chose war as a trade, that must be ascribed to 
corruption of morals, and to a relaxation of re- 
ligious discipline. 

Mr Gibbon indeed says, that " it was impos- 
ts sible that the Christians, without renouncing 
u a more sacred duty, could assume the cha- 
u racter of soldiers. This indolent, or even 
u criminal disregard to the public welfare, ex- 
« posed them to the contempt and reproach of 
« the Pagans, who very frequently asked, what 
« must be the fate of the empire, attacked on 
" every side by the Barbarians* if all mankind 
« should adopt the pusillanimous sentiments of 
« the new sect ?" 1. 580. 

He adds, in a note, " As well as we can 
« judge from the mutilated representation of 
« Origen [1. viii.], his adversary Celsus had 

C c 



302 CHAPTER V. 

« urged this objection with great force and can- 
« dor * " 

It is to be presumed that Mr Gibbon has ur- 
ged the objection with as much force and can- 
dor as Celsus did, and yet it is not unanswer- 
able. 

Or i gen had no right to speak for the Chri- 
stians at large ; so it is of no moment whether 
he, as an individual, made a convincing or only 
an evasive answer to the objection of Celsus. 

In another passage, Origen speaks of " just 
« wars f," by which he, probably, understood 
those of the defensive kind. But granting him 
to have altogether disapproved of the use of 
arms, the only fair inference deducible from 

* It is unlucky, that Origen should have given 
a mutilated representation of the argument : for any 
specimen of the candor of Celsus would have been 
a literary curiosity. 

f Barbevrac quotes this passage immediately af- 
ter the passage on which Mr Gibbon rests his ob- 
jection, Morale des Peres, c. vii. § 20. not. 1. ; 
and his embarrassment, whether real or affected, is 
remarkable. He proposes this dilemma : either Ori- 
gen speaks of wars which are just with respect to 
men, considered as such, and not as Christians ; or, 
he contradicts himself ; as, if the last part of the al- 
ternative were a thing strange and inadmissible. He 
must be a poor logician, indeed, who cannot extri- 
cate himself from this dilemma. Origen, as an 
honest man, is a good witness in matters of fact.} 
but in matters of opinion, we cannot rely on him. 



CHAPTER V. SOS 

this is, that Origen, who, in many particulars, 
thought differently from the church, did, in this 
particular, adopt an opinion which sectaries of 
various denominations have held. 
' The primitive Chrisrians could not be indo- 
lent and pusillanimous spectators of the fate of 
the Cesarean empire , for they generally be- 
lieved,, that the coming of Antichrist, the great- 
est of all calamities, was only delayed by the 
preservation of that empire *. 

I much doubt of the story of the thundering 
Iegion y and I give no credit to that of the The- 
ban : vet it is evident from those stories, that 
there prevailed a general tradition of many 
Christians having served in the Imperial armies 
lonp- before the civil establishment of Christian- 

o 

ity f . 

Mr Gibbon adds, that the Christians were 
" dead to the pleasures of the world." 

If by " pleasures of the world," be meant 
« immoral gratifications of sense," such as were 
reprobated, in theory at least, by the most emi- 
nent of the Heathen philosophers, the observa- 
tion is just ; and since the expression is scriptu- 
ral, and has obtained a fixed signification in the 

* See Kurd. Introduction to the study of the 
prophecies, ii. 15. 19. j and Hallifax. Serm. v. 152. 

f Tertullian. Apol. c. 5. } Euseb. Hist. Eccles. 
v. 5. 



304 CHAPTER V. 

English language, we are hardly at liberty to 
ascribe any other to it. 

The- result then of the whoje, when accom- 
modated to the matter of fact, is, that the pri- 
mitive Christians were, in a great measure, ex- 
cluded from offices of honour and emolument, 
that they disliked war as a trade, and that they 
had no ambition to rise to militarv com- 
mands % 

It seems that such men were not sufficiently 
occupied 5 and therefore, in order to amuse 
their idleness, or gratify their love of action, 
they invented ecclesiastical government. 

Granting, for a moment, that the primitive 
Christians were not only excluded from civil 
oSces of trust and emolument, but taat they 
held all war to be unlawful, and absolutely re- 
fused to bear arms it remains to be explained, 
why a deep-laid and wide plan of ecclesiastical 
policy should have been devised, persisted in, 
and executed by such men. ; 

* " The situation of the first Christians," says 
Mr Gibbon, * 1 coincided very hapoily with their re- 
" li^ious scruples ; and their aversion to an active 
" life contributed rather to excuse them from the 
" service, than to exclude them from the honours 
<( of the state and army.-' i. 58 \ . ; and yet his own 
book demonstrates, that in the decline of the Ro- 
man empire, no rank, however obscure, excluded 
men from those honours. 



CHAPTER V. S05 

Experience does not lead us to the conclu- 
sion which Mr Gibbon has formed. The Me- 
nonites, for instance, and the people called 
Quakers, are debarred, by their principles, from 
civil offices ; and they hold all war, defensive 
as well as offensive, to be unlawful ; yet their 
love of action never excited them to undertake 
what the primitive Christians, in circumstances 
supposed to be similar, are said to have accom- 
plished. 

Mr Gibbon, in treating of ecclesiastical go- 
vernment, seems to hold the antiquity of what 
he calls Episcopal Presbyters : But I know not 
whether the Old Dissenters of England will 
chuse to admit him as a proselyte from Episco- 
pacy, or rely on him as their champion in de- 
fence of the classical form,; for the controversy 
in his hands is equally poised. 

He thinks that the Episcopal form of govern- 
ment was introduced before the end of the first 
century \ and as he explains himself in a note, 
curing the life of the Apostle St John ; and yet 
he observes, that in the Epistle of Clemens^ 
the contemporary of St John, no traces of 
Episcopacy, either at Corinth or at Rome, are 
to be discovered 

* Here are the words of Mr Gibbon. " See the 
a Introduction to the Apocalypse. Bishops, under 
the name of Angels, were already instituted in se- 

C c S 



306 CHAPTER V. 

My subject does not lead me to enter the 
lists in the cause either of Episcopacy or of 
Presbytery ; neither could my opinion serve at 
all to terminate a controversy in which wise and 

4i ven cities of Asia." i. 534. not. 110. He adds, 

44 And yet the Epistle of Clemens, which is proba- 
44 bly of as ancient a date, does not lead us to disco- 
44 ver any traces of Episcopacy eilher at Corinth 
" or Rome." We may remark, in passing, thai here 
Mr Gibbon, admits the book of the Apocalypse to 
have been written before the end of the first centu- 
ry, and that he is willing to hold the epistle of 
Clemens as equally ancient. — A preceding note 
[104.] must not be overlooked. " The aristocrati- 
44 cal party in France, as well as in- England, has 
44 strenuously maintained the divine origin of Bi- 
44 shops : But the Calvinistical Presbyters were im- 
44 patient of a superior, and the Roman Pontiff re- 
44 fused to acknowledge an equal. See Fra. Paulo." 
It was unnecessary to quote the whale Works of Fa- 
ther Paul for proving that the Pope would not ac- 
knowledge an equal : but it can hardly be proved 
from any of the works of Father Paul, that, as the 
words seem to imply, the Pope did not acknowledge 
the divine right of bishops. — —Mr Gibbon has not 
Explained what he understands by 44 Aristocratical 
44 party in France." If he means 44 the nobility," 
it is fit to remind him, that the French Calvinists 
were, in that sense of the phrase, 44 an arisrocr apical 
44 party :" if he means 44 chose who maintained Epis- 
44 copal government," then the note whl imply, that, 
44 in France, the maintainers of Episcopal govern- 
44 ment considered it to be of divine original ;" a 
great truth, but which hardly deserved a place in 
Mr Gibbon's notes. 



CHAPTER V. 307 

learned men have taken different sides : But, as 
st friend of peace, and of the religion of peace, 
I must rejoice to see that the wisest and the 
most learned of those who differ as to the ori- 
gin of church-government, are willing to sus- 
pend, at least, their disputes ; and oh, that the 
armistice might continue until the brethren be, 
once more, of one accord* ! Indeed this is not 
a season for internal controversv, while Moses 
and Jesus Christ, and even the First Cause, 
are assailed with a boldness which will astonish 
the nineteenth century, should it prove more 
virtuous and learned than the eighteenth. 

I cannot allow myself to suppose, that, in 
such times as ours, Mr Gibbon meant to revive - 
or inflame the controversy respecting the origi- 
nal form of church-government among Chri- 
stians. 

Mr Gibbon, after having weighed the pre- 

XiOiHt KOCl U<pi?.&T/iTl. I hclC folloWS, tfs Kf^GC 7i ^0<Ti- 

Tt§u cr&K^of&zvas kvJ tptpcty T9j sfcxAjjovae. Acts, II. 46. 
47. Pity that this method of propagating the gos- 
pel in domestic parts were not more generally prac- 
tised. The narrative begins with -Tr^co-y.x^rt^vr^ 
hto$vu(/2ov sv rea ho&. These are significant words, 
and " thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine 
44 hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine 
" eyes > and thou shalt write them upon the posts of 
u thy house, and on thy gates." 



308 CHAPTER V. 

tensions to antiquity on either side, drops the 
scales, and at once pronounces in favour of a 
system inconsistent with the regimen of bishops; 
as having no diversity in clerical rank, and with 
the Presbyterian model, as having no subordi- 
nation of judicatories, " The scheme of poli- 
" cy," says he, " which, under the approbation 
" of the apostles, was adopted for the use of 
" the first century, may be discovered from the 
(C practice of Jerusalem, of Ephesus, or of Co- 
" rinth. The societies which were instituted 
" in the cities of the Roman empire, were uni- 
" ted only by the ties of faith and charity. In- 
" dependence and equality formed the basis of 
w their internal constitution." i. 583. 

Mosheim attempted to reconcile the discor- 
dant parties in the Christian church, by tracing 
their various systems back to the times of pri- 
mitive antiquity. Mr Gibbon appears to have 
adopted this theory, but without taking notice 
of some concessions which Mosheim judged it 
expedient to make. 

" The church of Jerusalem," says that author, 
" enjoyed for a season much honour and great 
4f authority. This is manifest from the Acts 
** of the Apostles. The Christians of Antioch 
4 * submitted their dispute concerning the Mo- 
u saical law to the judgement of the church at 
w Jerusalem, Acts y xv. \ and it is most likely 



CHAPTER V. 369 

M that other churches imitated their example. 
44 St Paul, although divinely called to perform 
4< the offices of an Apostle, was peculiarly stu- 
44 dicus in obtaining for himself, an. I for the 
" doctrines which he taught, the approbation 
44 of that church, and of the Apostles, Galat. i. 
"18. ii. 7. 8. 9. Such authority, however, 
4< took its rise, not from any thing personal in 
44 the church at Jerusalem, for she never affect- 
" ed any pre-eminence over the rest of the 
44 churches but from this, that the Apostles, 
<4 appointed by Jesus Christ to judge of matters 
u respecting religion, presided in that assembly. 
44 Yet, to say the truth, she might, possibly, have 
44 been consulted on dubious cases, even wiies 
44 the Apostles were absent : For the Holy Spi- 
4< rit had descended miraculously not on the 
44 Apostles alone, but on all at Jerusalem who 
<4 professed Christ, Acts, ii. 1 . &c. : and hence 
#t there were more men in that city than in the 
4 other churches illuminated from above, and 
" furnished with divine gifts. I doubt not that 
w the Ephesian church, while St John dwelt at 
14 Ephesus, h?vd a like authority among the 

44 churches of Asia ; and I am even of opinion, 
" that, out of respect to any church in which 
'* an apostle had for some time presided, the 
" neighbouring churches occasionallv took a 

45 model of teaching and discipline from her. 



S10 CHAPTER V. 

44 Nay more, lest I should seem to make too 
u scanty concessions, I am very Willing to grant 
ts that, on new opinions in religious matters 
" being set forth, and on controversies being 

churches, that is, the 
taught by the Ado- 



4t stirred, tne apostoli 
& churches founded 
u sties themselves, we 



y; sometime, consuit- 



* " Hlerosolymltj 
" aliquod magna fail 
" Actis Apostolorur 
<e slam suam de lag 
" hujus judicio sulr 
" fecisse ecclesias, vc 
d obeu 



71* ]?V 



imefta ecclesiae per £ em pus 
itss ci auctoriias, quod ex 

>saicss praestantia ecclesiss 
nt, Act. xv. Idem alias 
Illmum est. Paulus, divi- 
Aposu-li raunus vocatus, 
at, ut se suamque discipli- 
Kierosolymitano probaret 
. i. IS. ii. 7. S. 9. Verura 
non tarn in ecclesia erat 
nunnram supra reliquas- 
&postolk lesu Chrisii, qui 



" id tamen in primis age! 
" nam Aposiolis et coecui 
" et commendaret, Gala- 
" hujus auctoritatis radix 
Hierosolymitana, quae 
" eminere voluit, quam la 

" Hicrosolymitano coetui prcssidebant, judicesque a 
*' Christo rerum ad religionem pertinentium consti- 
£4 fciiti erant'. Apostolos proprie consulebant, noa 
" Hierpsolymitanum coetum. Quanquam, ut verum 
" feteaf j et ipse hie coetus, absentibus etiam Aposto- 
" lis, magis quam reliquas Christian Drum familiar, 
" rebus in dubiis, in consilium vocari poterat. Mul- 
" to enim plures, quam in ceteris ecclesiis, homines 
u igfant Hierosolymis lumine divino aliisque don is 
'* ccelestibus instruct], qucniam non in Apostolos 
" tantum, verum etiam in universum, qui turn Chri- 
" stum ibi profitebatur, populum Spiritus Sanctus 
" mirabiiiter delapsus efat, Act, ii. 1. &c. Non dii- 



CHAPTER Y. 611 

Granting that Mr Gibbon did right in pro- 
nouncing positively where Mosheim hesitated, 
yet still it must be obvious 3 that the indepen- 
dence and equality of different religious socie- 
ties could never have promoted " the union of 
* the Christian republic." 

Mr Gibbon proceeds thus : <c The want of 
" discipline and human learning was supplied 
" by the occasional assistance of the Prophets^ 
" who were called to that function without dis- 
" tinction of age, of sex, or of natural abiii- 
" ties ; and who, as often as they felt the di- 
" vine impulse, poured forth the effusions of 

M bito, Ephesinae ecclesia?, dum S. Johannes in ilia 
M vixit, parem inter Asiaticas auctoruatem fuisse , 
M immo cunctis ecciesiis, quibus aliquamdiu Aposto- 
44 lorum aliquis prsbfoit, hunc habitum esse honorem 
u opinor, ut vicing- ab illis ecelesise decendi agendi- 
" que exemplura interdum peterent. Hoc etiam 
" plus, nec enim praetor rem difficilis ero, largior, si 
w quis velit ; concedam nimirum cnmibus ecclesiis 
" Apostclicis, id est, illis, quas ipsi Apostoli construx- 
" erant et erudiverant, hoc, per tempus aliquod, da- 
*' turn fuisse, ut novis forte de religione sententiis prc- 
u positis et disputationibus commotis consulerentur/'' 
D. Reb. Christian, ante Constant. M. p. 153. 

This work of Mosheim is little known with us \ 
and, therefore, it was judged proper to print the ori- 
ginal passage at large, that it might be compared 
with the translation. It is no very easy task to ren- 
der the verbose language of Mosheim into tolerable 
English. 



312 CHAPTER V. 

« the Spirit in tiie assembly of the faithful." i. 

583. 

It is singular, that an author, who, no doubt, 
has studied the Acts of the Apostles, and the 
Epistles of St Paul, should suppose that there 
was any want of discipline* in the early part of 
the first century. 

That in the apostolical times some form of 
discipline did exist, even the Independents ad- 
mit, in common with the favourers of diocesan 
Episcopacy, and of the Presbyterian model. 
What that form was, and whether it was, in its 
nature, unalterable, have been the main ques- 
tions agitated during the disastrous contest? 
about ecclesiastical regimen. 

* It seems also to be supposed, that the gifts con- 
ferred on the Apostles were not sufficient to supply 
the want of human learning, and that something 
more was necessary for the propagation of the gos- 
pel, On this opinion, probably borrowed from Mo- 
sheim, it is needless to enlarge. But the want of 
human learning, since apostolical gifts have ceased, 
is a want indeed to him who proposes either to teach 
or to defend the doctrines of Christianity. Let 
men of warm imaginations think what they will, it 
is fit to remind them, that they must not despise any 
weapon which Providence has been pleased to put 
within their reach, for opposing the assaults of un- 
believers. May this admonition, given by a lay- 
man, be as candidly received as it is faithfully 
meant ! 

1 



CHAPTER T. 313 

But the scheme of policy " adopted, according 
w to Mr Gibbon, under the approbation of the 
«« Apostles/' is different from every scheme 
which " the hostile disputants/' as they are too 
truly called, have at any time adopted. 

Here it behoves us to ascertain the sense in 
which Mr Gibbon understands the word Pro- 
jphet. 

In the New Testament, the expression « to 
" prophecy/' sometimes respects the interpret- 
ing of scripture , and under this is compre- 
hended the application of ancient prophecies to 
evangelical events : sometimes, again, it respects 
the foretelling of things to come, and especial- 
ly of things which were to befall the church*. 

* Mr Gibbon adds this note : " For the pro- 
" pheis of the primitive church, see Mosheim, Dis- 

sertaticnes ad Hist. Eccles. pertinentes, torn. ii. 
" p. 132. 20S." The title of the tract here re- 
ferred to is, De Prophetis Ecclesioe Apostolicse Dis- 
sertatio. As that tract cannot be made intelligible 
by an abridgement, it may suffice to observe, that it 
does, in no sort, aid the hypothesis of Mr Gibbon. 
Mosheim appears to have put a very wide sense on 
the word prophecy; and even to have comprehended 
under it the discerning of the thoughts of men. In 
that way he explains the difficult text, i. Cor. xiv. 
24. 25. Mosheim has frequently treated of the pro- 
phets in the apostolical age, and not without some 
diversity, or at least vacillancy of opinion. For 
example, he says, Institutiones Historise Christians 
Majores, saec. i. part. ii. c. ii. § 10. " This power 

Dd 



514 CHAPTER V. 

Mr Gibbon says, that certain persons were 
called under the approbation of the Apostles, 
to assist occasionally in the function of projjhets ; 

66 of prophecy is justly and universally reckoned 
¥ amongst the gifts which, by special favour from 
" God, were appropriated to the Christian church 
" in its infancy. Every one, who laid claim to this 
" gift, was allowed to speak in the public assem- 
" blies ; but lest any impostor should deceive the 
" people, others, of whose pretensions to the cha- 
" racter of prophets there was full evidence, perform- 
a ed the function of judges, and separated the true 
" from the false, i. Cor. xiv. 24. \ and that things 
" might be the better conducted, the Apostles them- 
" selves furnished marks by which the prophets 
" whom God had inspired might be distinguished 
" from those who were actuated by fancy or self- 
" conceit, i. Cor. xii. 2. J >.* 7 i. John iv. 1." — And he 
says, in a note, " For some reason which I cannot 
f* figure, most men have persuaded themselves that 
" the persons whom the books of the New Testa- 
*' ment term prophets, were merely expounders of the 
" scriptures, and especially of the predictions utter- 
?? ed by God under the times of the Old Testament. 
" All the circumstances related of such prophets 
" are inconsistent with this opinion, and it is incon- 
" sis tent with the nature of the thing. Who can 
" deny, that the holy penmen of the New Testa- 
" ment rather used the word prophet in the sense 
" generally affixed to it by the Jews of their own 
u times, than in a sense unnecessary, new, and un- 
" heard of ? Now, amongst the Jews, a prophet was 
" not one skilled in expounding the predictions of 
" the ancient prophets, but a messenger of the di- 
H vine will, and an interpreter sent, out of the com- 



CHAPTER V. 315 

that they were called without distinction of age, 
of sex, or of natural abilities *, and, as often as 
they felt the divine impulse, they poured forth 

" mon course of things, by God himself. I should 
" be apt to imagine, that, by the command of God, 
" and through his inspiration, the prophets under the 
" gospel did occasionally explain some parts of holy 
" writ. But I can, by no means, be induced to 
" believe, that they who were distinguished by that 
" appellation, had no other employment 5 and that 
" to have the gift of prophecy, was just the same 
" thing as to have the gift of interpreting the prophe- 
" ciesP [Facultas hcec vaticmSndl merito inter 
dona ilia ubique refertur, qure nascenti civitati 
Christianae, singular! beneHcio divino, propria fue- 
runt. Licebat omnibus qui hoc sese munere proedi- 
tos dicebant esse, publice loqui j at ne quis planus 
populum deciperet, ceteri, quos signis minime dubiis 
constabat prophetas esse, judicum agebant partes, ve- 
rosque vates a falsis segregabant, i. Ccr. xiv. 24. 5 
idque ut felicius succederet negotium, ipsi Apostoli 
notas suppeditaverant, quibus prophets a Deo com- 
mon* dignoscerentur ab illis, quos aut impetus natu- 
rae, aut arrogantia creaverat, i. Cor. xii. 2. 3. 5 

i. John, iv. 1. Nescio quonam modo evenerit ut 

plerique sibi persuaderent eos, quos Novi Foederis 
libri prophetas appellant, interpretes fuisse divinorum 
librorum, in primis vaticinationum a Deo, stante An- 
tiquo Fcedere, dictatarum. Respuit hanc opinionem 1 
omne id quod de prophetis hisce scriptum legitur. 
Immo res ipsa respuit. Quis neget sanctos scripto- 
res vocabulum prophet a ea notione adhibuisse, qua, 
turn temporis, inter Judaeos maxime usurpari solebat, 
minime vero sine necessitate novam ill! et mauditam. 
potestatem subjecisse I Propheta vero nunquam Ji- 



CHAP TER V. 



■she effusions of the Spirit in the assembly of the 
faithful. 

The principal thing to be observed in this 
description of the prophets is_> that Mr Gibbon 

dseis homo fait dexteritate oracula priscorum vaium 
deelarandi praeditus, verum divinse voluntatis nun- 
tins et interpres extraordinarius ab ipso Deo missus. 
Crediderim facile, prophetas hos interdum, jussu et 
mstinctu divino, partem quandam divinorum libro- 
rum explanasse : nullo vero modo adducar, ut existi- 
mem nihil fecisse aliud illos, qui hoc nomine insignes 
erant, donumque prophetise idem esse, quod faculta- 
tem oraculorum divinorum sententiam enodandi.] 
To the same purpose, but more briefly, he speaks, 
d. Reh. Christian, ante Constant. M. ssec. i. J xl. 
p. 129. 130. But in that work of his which is best 
known among us, he seems to have given a still 
more extensive signification to the word prophet ; for 
he says, " It is certain that they who claimed the 
" rank of prophets, were invested with the power of 
M censuring publicly such as had been guilty of any 
" irregularity," History of the Church, part ii. c.2. 
% 9. translated by M'Claine. I have chosen, in the 
text, to treat of the prophets of the apostolical age 
according to the sense of that word, as generally re- 
ceived, without meaning either to adopt or reject 
that greater latitude of interpretation for which 
Mosheim contends. And here it will be remarked, 
that what Mosheim says in his Ecclesiastical Histo- 
ry is inconsistent with the hypothesis of Mr Gib- 
bon : for Mosheim could never have meant that, in 
the apostolical times, persons without distinction of 
age or sex, women, boys, and girls, " were invested 
" with the power of censuring publicly such as had 
been guilty of any bregullrity/' 



CHAPTER V. SIT 

represents the persons of whom he speaks, as 
having been divinely inspired ; for, according to 
him, they " felt the divine impulse," and 
" they poured forth the effusions of the Spi- 
« rit *." 

Here, then, were persons endued from Hea- 
ven with the gift either of interpreting the 
Scriptures, or of foreseeing events. 

Now, by whom were they called to the exer- 
cise of such gifts, or to the performing of the 
function of prophets P Not by the Apostles 
themselves \ for Mr Gibbon says, that they 
were called " under the approbation of the 
« Apostles :" We must, therefore, suppose, that 
they were called by the church, that is, by the 
Christian society at large. 

It follows, that a person endued with pro- 

* We must not, on any account, imagine, thae 
these expressions are used ironically ; for then the 
sense of the passage would be, " That certain per- 
" sons in the primitive church, either knavishly pre- 
" tended to the gifts of prophecy, or, from a spirit 
" of fanaticism, supposed themselves to be possessed 
" of such gifts ' y and that, in compliance with the 
" desires of the Christian multitude, and to perfect 
" a scheme of policy, the Apostles allowed some of 
" those false prophets to speak in the assembly of the 
et faithful." This cannot be the meaning of the 
passage \ for it is adverse to the professed purpose 
which Mr Gibbon had in treating of the secondary 
causes of the rapid growth of Christianity. 

Dd a 



318 CHAPTER \\ 

phetical powers, could not exercise them in the 
assembly of the faithful, without a call from the 
Christian society at large, confirmed by the 
Apostles. 

There must be some mistake here for no 
vestige is to be found in the New Testament of 
an election of this nature. 

No doubt, the Apostles, having the gift of 
the discerning of spirits, had power to prohibit 
him who falsely arrogated to himself the gifts 
of prophecy, from attempting to deceive the 
people by his fictions or his reveries * , and 
there can be as little doubt, that they did, on 
suitable occasions, exercise such power : but 
there needed no call from the church at large, 
or approbation of the Apostles, for authorising 
a person endued with prophetical gifts to exer- 
cise them ; and, on the other "hand, the church 
at large, and the Apostles, could not, even by 
common consent, say to a prophet, c < Thou 
" shalt not prophesy." 

That power which St Paul assumed by di- 
vine authority, was of a very different nature. 
He did not say who should be prophets, and 
who not m 9 but he regulated the exercise of the 
gifts of prophecy in that manner which was 
agreeable to order, and most conducive to the 



* See above, j>. 103. 



CHAPTER V. 31§ 

purposes of edification * 5 and it may be fairly 
presumed, that a like course was followed by 
the other Apostles. 

This much may suffice as to the supposed 
call of the prophets. 

It remains to inquire, whether the function 
of prophets was discharged, as Mr Gibbon ima- 
gines, " without distinction of age or sex." 

If, by prophets, "the foretellers of events" be 
meant, Mr Gibbon justly supposes that the 
Holy Spirit is not circumscribed as to his instru- 
ments and that infinite wisdom may employ 
young or old, and persons of the one sex as 
well as of the other, for accomplishing the ends 
of its providence, in every capacity and in eve- 
ry office : and should it appear that, in this 
particular, no distinction was indeed made at 
the promulgation of the Gospel, all intelligent 
Christians will acquiesce in the ways of God 
without farther inquiry. 

But Mr Gibbon, however zealous he may be 
to point out the completion of ancient prophe- 
cies, ought not to take it for granted, that they 
were literally fulfilled as to all particulars de- 
scribed in the figurative language of the Pro- 
phet Joel, who says, in the name of the Al- 
mighty, « And it shall come to pass afterward^ 



i* Cor. c. xiv. 



320 CHAPTER V. 

« that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, 
" and your sons and your daughters shall pro- 
" phesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your 
" young men shall see visions % ." For, when 
the miraculous gift of tongues was bestowed, St 
Peter declared the prophecy of Joel to be ac- 
complished ; although the old men had not 
dreamed dreams, neither had the young men 
and the daughters of Jerusalem uttered pro- 
phecies, or seen visions. 

I cannot discover, from Scripture, that, in 
the apostolical times, boys and girls were endu- 
ed with the gifts of prophecy, in any sense of 
the wordf. .. . 

It is possible that, by prophets, Mr Gibbon 
meant not " foretellers of events," but " inter- 
" preters of Scripture for he gives them the 
ambiguous appellation of " prophetical teach- 
"ers." 

* Joel, ii. 28. The meaning of the prophecy, as 
explained by St Peter, is, " That the operations of 

the Holy Spirit shall be made manifest." 

f Philip the deacon had " four daughters, vir- 
" gins, iTreipiiviiJ, who prophesied," Acts, xxi. 9. 
But xectfivos properly signifies one grown up or arri- 
ved at woman's estate 3 and hence was that whimsi- 
cal etymology of the word devised, irxg$ms cita to 
vrapcucx-Totfaeiv ?w ifaxtccv. Besides, it is not certain in 
what sense the daughters of Philip are said to have 
prophesied? 



CHAPTE'R V. 321 

That, in the apostolical times, persons, 
* without distinction of 3ge or of sex/' were 
admitted to be teachers in a public assembly of 
Christians, may well be questioned, for it is not 
clear, that boys and girls were admitted to the 
conferences spoken of in i. Cor. xiv. 

St Paul would not suffer married women to 
speak in church, or even to propose difficulties, 
and ask a solution of them there. " Let them 
M keep silence," said he and in support of this 
injunction, he appealed to the judgement of his 
hearers, in these words, " It is a shame for a 
« woman to speak in the church # ." 

From analogy, and from the manners of his 
times, we may well conclude, although that pre- 
cise case be not stated, that a like silence was 
required of maidens \ and that they were left 
to be privately instructed by their parents, as 
married women were by their husbands. 

There is one passage, indeed, where St Paul 
speaks of women prophesying in a public assem- 
bly of Christians f but that passage may, as 

* i. Cor. xiv. 34. 35. 5 i. Tim. ii. 11. 12. On 

this occasion, as on others, St Paul spake in confor- 
mity with established notions and manners. This 
will account for the strong expression, "it is a shame," 
j-^t^pgv yxo is-*], literally, " it is a foul deed." 

f i. Cor. xi. 5. This passage has perplexed the 
commentators. In 1767, there was published, under 



S2Q CHAPTER V. 

probably, relate to the foretelling of events, as 
to the interpreting o7 Scripture. 

Mr Gibbon thus concludes his remarks on 
the prophets : « But these extraordinary gifts 

the name of the Prorector of the university of Got- 
tingen, a dissertation De doni ' prophetici variis gradi- 
bus in Ecclesia Christiana, 4io. That author sup- 
poses ywn fr§wiv%*p»M A TPdprtVtvfsrXi to mean, " sl wo- 
u man who prays or sings psalms." He observes, 
that St Paul is not there speaking of any extraordi- 
nary or miraculous gifts, and that this intetpretation 
will serve to reconcile i. Cor. xi. 5. with i. Cor. xiv. 
34. His words are : " Antequam de variis doni 
" peophetici gradibus plura dicamus id adhuc addi- 
" mus, iis nos accedere, qui eliam in Novi Testa- 
" menti libris semel Tf^^nnvav deiis dici arbitrantur, 
" qui ne quidem ipsi divini spiritus motu exlraordina- 
" rio agitati, sed eadem plane ratione, qua nonnullis 
" Veteris Testamenti locis carmina divina ab aliis 
4 ' quoque prophetis confecta canentes Tr^o^nvut di- 
" cuntur, inter quos Saulum cum prophetis vatici- 
" nan tern, Baali prophetas 9 et Davidis can tores 
" (pijTsv&vrdcg referimus. Vix enim persuadere nobis 
" possumus, aliam nolionem huic voci subjectam esse 
u posse, i. Cor. xi. 4. 5. Nondum enim de donorum 
" extraordinariorum usu, sed de ordine in conventi- 
" bus religiosis quibuscunque Christianorum obser- 
u vando, capite hoc integro, disserit Paulus, neque id 
l f tantumvultjipsos docentes et propriis verbis precan- 
" tes adesse viros nudato capite, mulieres tectas, sed 
66 in quocunque sacro conventu. Recte igitur plures 
" interpretes observarunt, n^G-iv/jo-Scci xcu ir£*$nTtvav 
" esse descriptionem totius cultus divini, quemadmo - 
u dum nostro etiam tempore canere et precari de 
u cultu divino integro plures etiam complectente 



CHAPTER V. 323 

€ : were frequently abused or misapplied by the 
46 prophetic teachers. They displayed them at 
" an improper season, presumptuously disturbed 
M the service of the assembly, and by their 
" pride or mistaken zeal, they introduced, par- 
44 ticularly into the apostolic church of Corinth, 
" a long and melancholy train of disorders. As 
" the institution of prophets became useless, 
M and even pernicious, their powers were with- 
44 drawn, and their office abolished/' i. 583. 

In proof of the disorders introduced by the 
prophets into the church of Corinth, Mr Gibbon 
refers not only to the epistles of St Paul, but 
also to the epistles of Clemens to the Corin- 
thians. 

We may well suppose that the admonition 

u partes nonnunquam d'citur. Facillimam haec in- 
" terpretatio pandit viam conciliandi hunc locum 
"cum c.xiv. 34:. Addere enim D. Pauli verbis, 
" quod interpretibus pluribus placet, " Loqui pu- 
" blice quidern licet mulieribus divino spiritu impul- 
" sis, at nisi revelationem habeant, tacento," nexui 
" integro est contrarium, in quo de sermonibus aliis 
" prceter eos, qui spiritu prophetico habebantur, non 
" est sermo. De " quibuscunque sermonibus" intelli- 
" gere verba Pauli nos ipsa oppositio cogit. Pro- 
" phetis enim, ait, loqui quidem licet divino motis 
" impulsu, iia tamen, ut alter alteram suo ordine ex- 
" cipiat, mulieres vero in ecclesia tacento. Canen- 
" tes autem nota carmina divina sua comitari voce, 
" absque dubio licebat mulieribus.*" 



824 CHAPTER V. 

and censure pronounced by St Paul had the ef- 
fect of removing the abuses of which he com- 
plained. As to the second epistle of Clemens, 
although its genuineness were admitted, it has 
not even the most distant relation to the subject 
of which Mr Gibbon is treating \ and as to what 
he says of the first epistle, he seems, in some 
measure, to be supported by the authority of 
Archbishop Wake *; 

Nevertheless, the evil of which Clemens 
complained, appears to have arisen rather from 

* " When St Paul wrote his first epistle to the 
" Corinthians, the two great things that seemed to 
" have especially called for it, were, firsts the divi- 
sions of the church, upon the account of their 
" teachers, and through their vain conceit of their 
" own spiritual gifts ; and, secondly, the great mis- 
" take that was getting in axong them concerning 
" the nature of the future resurrection : and how- 
" ever the Apostle, by his writing and authority, did 
i% for the present put a stop to the one, and set them 
" right as to the other j yet it seems after his death 
" they began again to fall not only into the same 
" contentions, but into the same error too, that had 
u caused them so much trouble before. Now, this 
M gave occasion to St Clement to write the present 
" epistle to them." Discourse concerning the Apo- 
stolical Fathers, c. ii. §12. 13. The Archbishop 
supposes that the contentions among the Corinth- 
ians in the days of Clemens, arose through " their 
" vain conceit of their own spiritual gifts." But 
he does not limit the case to the particular gift of 
prophecy. 



CHAPTER V, : o23 

the factious spirit of individuals in the church, 
than from the pride, presumption, or mistaken 
zeal of the prophets *. 

* Thus, in the very beginning of his epistle, Cle- 
mens speaks of " that foul and unholy dissension fo- 
" reign and strange to the elect of God, which a 
" few rash and self-willed men have inflamed to 
11 such madness," &c. [t-*j? n ct,/\/\oT^ctg xut 

Tots SKKiKTOig r« ( utczgc&$ koci otvocrtti f&ffbWs w oXtyx 

7rpoTca7ra Tgo7riTq kxi oiv8<zd/i vTrxo^ovTd^ ztq totxtov et7T&- 

VOixg l%gKttVFOtV. JC. T. 6. 

Again, at § 3. Clemens says, " So the base have 
u been raised up against the honourable, those of no 
" reputation against the eminent, the foolish against 
" the vise, and the young against the aged j there- 
" fore righteousness and peace are far departed from 
" you, because every one hath forsaken the fear of 
" God, and is become blind in faith towards him j 
" neither walketh by the rule of his commandments, 
" nor hath a conversation as is fitting in Christ : But 
" each man proceedeth according to his own evil de- 
" sires, having taken up an unjust and ungodly emu- 
" lation, whereby death also entered into the world." 

\jtTU$ ITT ny6gfo,V_(&* Ot CCTi,UOl 17TI TV$ tVTlU%S 9 CI Ct^O^Ot t7Tl 
T%$ ivhofysg, 01 Cttp^OViS 17H £§6V^*S, Ot 9i0l £7Tl T%$ 

fil>Tl9%$. AlXTXTO TTofyu Oi'TTi^tV V SiXezl6G~VVy} KCCi itgYiVy}, & 
TCa 0C7T0\ti7TTUV ZKXfOV TOV (pofifiy T% ©2# KCtt IV TV) Trim 

cc,{do\vct)'XV)<rcti gy toi$ vouijaoi$ tw T^ofxypot- 

TMV CtVTX TTOQZV&T&stt, fiCty)i 7tO/\iTWZ?Qxt XXTX TO K.X@/)J609 T4J 

X^L?a)y xXXot ixx^ov Qahfytv xxtx Txg t7ri@v/xta$ CtVTX TX$ 
ttovv^xs, fyXov oii ko* koci aos&Y, etntXYi<p6T0tc 9 a xxt &xvx- 
rot; UG-r,h6n us top x.oq~(/«ov.~\ Here there is what may be 
termed the leading notion of the epistle - y and it seems 
inconsistent with the hypothesis, that Clemens meant 
to treat of " the pride, presumption, or mistaken 
" ^eal of the prophets," 

Ee 



526 CHAPTER V. 

Be this as it may, Mr Gibbon ought to have 
explained more particularly what is to be under- 
stood by the phrase, " the powers of the pro- 
More particularly still, he says, -at § 14. "Where- 
" fore, men and brethren, it is more just and holy 
" that we be obedient unto God, than that we fol- 
low them who, through pride and an unsettled spi- 
" rit, are become the authors of abominable dissen- 
" sion 7 for, we shall bring upon ourselves no small 
" hurt, but rather great peril, if we rashly yield to 
" the wills of men, whose aim is, by strife and sedi- 
" tion, to alienate us from that which is right." 
[AiKcttov jc&i ocriov, etfSgtg aeizXtpGi, v'XWg'dg ifro&g petX- 
Xov ywic-$xt tod QzM, q roig iv &bu.fyvtist kcu oiy-u.Te.<rc)t,7ios, 

M.aX\ov ^g Ktv^vvov v7roi76.tizv piycw zctv pt^OKivdvv^g z7rt^0}~ 
(Alv ec&VT&g TQtg BiXn^g-t T&v xv&PC'JTrav, ^itinc, i^xKOVTiQscrtv 

At § 44. mention is made of the excesses to 
which the multitude, incited by their seditious de- 
magogues, had run * 7 u for we see that you have put 
" out from the ministry some men of good conversa- 
iC tion. 9 ' £_egwuiv y&Q ots 6vm$ vt&etg {tlmyctyiTi i&o&X&g 

And at § 47. Clemens says, " Beloved, what we 
" hear is shameful, exceedingly shameful indeed, and 
" unworthy of the Christian profession y that, by 
" means of one or two persons, the best established, 

the ancient church of Corinth rises in sedition 
" against her priests." [ott<?%%& ezyaTwroi, kxi Xtav 

Zotwra&rffl, Kctt otg%aiotv Kc^vdtm ixichri<Ti&v 2; r t $vo ttqo- 

At § 54. he pathetically exclaims, " Who is there 
c * generous among you, who tender-hearted, who fill- 



CHAPTER V. 327 

# phets were withdrawn" We have seen that, 
according to his hypothesis,, the prophets were 
called by the multitude, under the approbation 
of the Apostles. Are we to suppose, that when 
this institution of prophets became useless, and 
even pernicious, the church ceased to call them, 
or at least that the Aposles with-held their ap- 
probation of such call ? Hence it might be in- 
ferred, that the institution was a device of hu- 
man policy. But the words of Mr Gibbon 
cannot be so understood ; for he himself ad- 
mits, that the prophets were divinely inspired 5 
and therefore we may suppose his meaning, 
however ambiguously and improperly expressed, 
to be, that " it pleased God to withdraw such 
M miraculous gifts whenever they became un~ 
u necessary, or were egregiously misused." 

" ed with charity ? let him say, if, for my cause, there 
u be dissension, and strife, and schisms, I depart, I get 
u whithersoever ye will, and I do whatever the people 
" commandeth, only may the flock of Christ, with the 
" priests set over it, be in peace. Whoso doeth this 
" shall obtain for himself great renown in the Lord, 
" and every place shall welcome him." [ti$ %v zv 
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CHAPTER V. 

ihis appears to be a rational interpretation of 
the passage, and it is agreeable to the truth of 
history ; but whether Mr Gibbon meant to con- 
vey/ that sentiment to his readers, I do not pre- 
tend to determine. 

Perhaps it may be thought, that I have 
dwelt too long on these expressions of Mr Gib- 
bon, That « the jvyhets were called to that 
fc< function without distinction of age or sex ; 
€i and as often as they felt the divine impulse, 
" poured forth the effusions of the Spirit in the 
¥ assembly of the faithful." 

But the truth is, that Mr Gibbon has spoken 
so inaccurately of the prophets of the apostoli- 
cal age, as to make the institution appear, at the 
first view of his account of it, a mass of im- 
posture and fanaticism, tempered with human 
policy ; and therefore it became proper not 
only to state the fact as to those prophets, but 
also to attempt to reconcile the language of Mr 
Gibbon with his avowed principles. 

Under this head of " the union and disci- 
" pline of the Christian church," supposed to 
have been " the fifth secondary cause of the 
€i rapid growth of Christianity," Mr Gibbon 
treats of the variations in ecclesiastical govern- 
ment during the first ages of the church, and 
of rhe contests among the clergy for power and 
pre-eminence. He also enlarges on the prac- 



CHAPTER V. 329 

tice of pronouncing excommunication, and of 
imposing public penance. How these things 
should have contributed to the rapid growth of 
Christianity, he has not explained. 

One circumstance of which he speaks, de- 
serves more particular attention. It is thus ex- 
pressed : " A generous intercourse of charity 
" united the most distant provinces, and the 
4i smaller congregations were chearfully assisted 
44 by the alms of their more opulent brethren. 
" Such an institution, which paid less regard 
w to the merit than to the distress of the ob- 
4< ject, very materially conduced to the progress 
" of Christianity." i. 595. 

So far he says well. It was reasonable for 
humane Pagans, when they saw the pious libe- 
rality of believers, to inquire into the nature 
and evidences of The Religion of Love. Such 
inquiries can never hurt the cause of Christian- 
ity, and, in general, are favourable to it. If, in 
this way, any Pagans were converted, their con- 
version might be said to have been owing to 
the virtues of the Christians. 

What follows in Mr Gibbon is more excep- 
tionable : " The Pagans," says he, u who were 
u actuated by a sense of humanity, while thev 
<4 derided the doctrines, acknowledged the be- 
44 nevolence of the new sect." 

It seems, then, that the humane Pagans, 

E e 3 



330 CHAPTER V, 

while they did justice to the benevolence of the 
new sect, continued to deride its doctrines ; so 
that k was not by the means which I have sup- 
posed, that Christian benevolence « very mate- 
M rially conduced to the progress of Christian- 
" ity." 

Mr Gibbon adopts a different system. He 
says, " The prospect of immediate relief, and 
u of future protection, allured into the hospita- 
4i ble bosom of the church many of those un- 
u happy persons whom the neglect of the world 
Si would have abandoned to the miseries of 
" want, sickness, and of old age." i. 505. That 
is, the Heathens, who dreaded poverty, sickness, 
and old age, sought that relief from the li- 
berality of Christians which they could not ex- 
pect even from the other Heathens, u who 
*! were actuated by a sense of humanity and 
so they professed their belief in Christ ! 

It wiH be remembered, that this, according 
to the hypothesis of Mr Gibbon himself, could 
not possibly have happened in the early ages of 
the church, when it was composed of poor and 
mean persons. The Christians must have be- 
come opulent before their liberality could have 
bribed the Heathens to seek their protection , the 
protection of men exposed to the hourly ha- 
zard of banishment and confiscations ! 

On this subject, Mosheim expresses himself 



CHAPTER V. 331 

with some degree of warmth. " They/' says 
he, " who feign other causes of the rapid 
M growth of Christianity, do but repeat dreams 
" to us, and such as cannot be relished, unless 
* 4 by men ignorant of the natural dispositions 
" and history of mankind. They imagine 
4fc themselves to have made some mighty disco- 
" very, while they affirm, that the charity of 
¥ Christians towards the poor allured a multi- 
" tude of sluggish and debauched persons to 
4 * make profession of faith in Christ. It seems 
u then, that the minds of men are so constitu- 
€i ted, that, to alleviate hunger for a time, and 
" to obtain scanty and homely food, they would 
<4 be willing to incur the immediate hazard of 
" reputation and life, submit themselves to a 
4< severe discipline, like the Christian, and, in 
" one word, amidst tortures, and punishments 
" even unto ignominious death, that they would 
* 4 display invincible fortitude in maintaining a 
4< religion to which from indolence alone they 
44 had attached themselves ! There is as little 
41 common sense in the rest of what the con- 
44 cealed enemies of Christianity prate on this 
44 subject # ." 

* " Alias qui comminiscuntur religionis Christi- 
u anse tarn subito propagatae caussas, sonrnia nobis re- 
" citant, quae nullis placebunt, nisi rerum et morum 
" humanorum imperitis. Magnum scse nescio quid 



332 



All that now remains is to recapitulate brief- 
ly the Five secondary causes, which, in the 
judgement of Mr Gibbon, " so efficaciously as- 

*f reperisse autumant, qui amorem Christianorum 
" erga pauperes turbam ignavcrum et vitiosorum ho- 
64 minum allexisse statuunt, ut in Christi verba jura- 
u rent. Ita scilicet homines animis affecti sunt, ut 
" famis ad iempus sedandae pa-rcique et duri victus 
" consequendi causa, praesentissimum honoris vitaeque 
" periculuiu adire, severse sese discipline, qualis 
" Christiana, subjicere, religionem denique, propter 
" inertiam susceptam, constantissime inter tormenta 
w et supplicia, ad mortem usque ignominiosam, tueri 
" cupiant. Nihil saniora sunt cetera, quae Ills de re- 
" bus garriunt, qui sacris Christianis insidlantur." 
Institutiones Historise Christianas majores, ssee. 1» 
part.i. civ. §13. Mosheim expresses himself with 
more asperity of style than is used from layman to 
layman : When ip-deed we laymen find it necessary 
to abuse the clergy, we are apt enough to adopt the 
general language of Mosheim, but then we call 
them, or we say enough to make others call them, 
" interested knaves," rather than " foolish praters 
" and visionaries-.' 9 

Upon this subject, however unpromising, Mr Gib- 
bon enlarges \ in particular, he says, That u the zeal 
" and activity of the Christian clergy were united in 
" the common cause \ and the love of power, which, 
" under the most artful disguises, could insinuate it- 
ci self into the breasts of bishops and martyrs, ani- 



CH APTER V. 



' ted the truth of the Christian religion." 
k 599 * 

His first proposition, as we have seen, is 5 that 
Christianity became victorious over the esta- 

44 mated them to increase the number of their sub- 
44 jects, and to enlarge the limits of the Christian 
44 empire. They were destitute of any temporal 
4< force, and they were for a long time discouraged 
" and oppressed, rather than assisted, by the civil 
" magistrate. But they had acquired, and they ern- 
" ployed within their own society, the two most effi- 
" cacious instruments of government, rewards and pu- 
" nishments j the former, derived from the pious II- 
" berality, the latter, from the devout apprehensions 
" of the faithful." i. 591. 

Here there are several things remarkable, 1. It 
is supposed that the bishops and martyrs of the pri- 
mitive church looked upon the rest of the Christians 
as their subjects. 2. That the love of power, under 
the most artful disguises, animated the primitive 
clergy to collect alms, and to bestow them on the 
indigent. The enemies of our religion have not said 
so : for Lucian scoffs at the beneficence of the Chri- 
stians, and Julian seems mortified at it. See Decline 
and Fall, vol. i. p. 595. not. 143. 3. Rewards are 
supposed to be some of u the most efficacious instru- 
44 ments of human government for the context 
will not allow us to understand the passage, of the 
moral government of God. 4. 44 The devout ap- 
44 prehensions of the faithful," that is, the fear which 
the Christians had of public penances and excommu- 
nication, served to increase the number of Chri- 
stians ! 

* Here, as on other occasions, I am much indebt- 
ed to the writings of Bishop Watson and Dr Chel- 
sum. 



334 CHAPTER V. 

Wished religions of the earthy by its very doc- 
trine, and by the ruling providence of its great 
Author ; and his last, of a like import, is, That 
Christianity is the Truth. 

Between his first and his last propositions, 
there are, no doubt, many dissertations, digres- 
sions, inferences, and hints^ not altogether con- 
sistent with his avowed principles. But much 
allowance ought to be made for that love of no- 
velty which seduces men of genius to think 
and speak rashly ; and for that easiness of be- 
lief, which inclines us to rely on the quotations 
and -commentaries of confident persons, with- 
out examining the authors of whom they 
speak. 

L The first secondary cause of the rapid 
growth of the Christian religion is said to have 
been, « The inflexible and intolerant zeal of 
44 the Christians a zeal, when unsupported^ 
and even repressed by secular power, of all 
things the most likely to check, instead of ac- 
celerating the growth of Christianity. 

II. " The doctrine of a future life, impro- 
' ved by every additional circumstance which 
44 could give weight or efficacy to that impor- 
" tant truth * 

* Mr Gibbon, in his recapitulation of the five se- 
condary causes, i. 600. mentions the " immediate ex- 
" pectation of another world," instead of " the doc- 



CHAPTER V. 335 

This, however, must have been a primary, 
and not a secondary cause of the rapid growth 
of Christianity : for, if we may credit St Paul, 
u Christ has abolished death, and has brought 
4 - life and immortality to light, through the 
41 gospel * " 

III. " The supernatural gifts ascribed to the 
" Christians." This, if understood of miracu- 
lous powers really exercised, ought to be rank- 
ed among the primary causes of the rapid 
growth of Christianity ; if understood of « ly- 
44 ing wonders," it is hard to say, why the Pa- 
gans, who had fictitious miracles of their own, 
should have rejected them, and adopted what, 
in the present argument, must be considered as 
fables, the invention of a hated and persecuted 
sect. 

IV. " The virtues of the primitive Chri- 
** stians." Mr Gibbon admits, not only that 
they were virtuous, but also that they were 
more virtuous than their Heathen contempora- 
ries. But what made them to differ from 
ethers ? Let us answer, till we are better in- 

" trine of a future life." But this is said through 
mere inadvertency \ for an opinion which arose from 
a wrong interpretation of some passages in Scripture, 
could only take place among those who were previa 
ously convinced of the authority of the holy books. 

* ii. Tim, i. 10* 



336 CHAPTER V. 

formed, « The grace of God that bringeth sal- 
44 vation, hath appeared to all men , teaching 
44 us, that, denying ungodliness, and worldly 
44 lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and 
44 godly in this present world ; looking for that 
" blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of 
44 the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ, 
4 < who gave himself for us, that he might re- 
44 deem us from all iniquity, and purify unto 
44 himself a peculiar people, zealous of good 
44 works # ." So if the virtues of the primitive 
Christians did contribute, in some measure, to 
the rapid growth of Christianity, we must 
ascribe such effects, not to any secondary cause, 
but to the primitive cause of those virtues, the 
grace of God. 

V. « The union and discipline of the Chri- 
" stian republic." This indeed would have 
strengthened the church, if not augmented the 
number of believers ; but between the aposto- 
lical times and the accession of Constantine, 
the Christians were not so studious as became 
them in preserving " the unity of the Spirit in 
u the bond of peace j. M neither was discipline, at 
all times, regularly and prudently maintained 
among them. 

We read in Mr Gibbon of " the mutual ho- 



Titus, it. 11. — 14. 



CHAPTER V, 837 

44 stilities of the clergy, which sometimes dis- 
44 turbed the peace of the infant church of 
44 their turbulent passions, tinctured with an 
44 additional degree of bitterness and obstinacy 
4< from the infusion of spiritual zeal of 44 the 
44 ambition of the Roman Pontiff, and the ab- 
4i solute sway of Cyprian over Carthage, and 
4< the provincial synods of 44 a controversy 
41 carried on without effusion of blood, which 
44 was owing much less to the moderation than 
4C to the weakness of the parties and of 44 in- 
4< vectives and excommunications reciprocally 
*v hurled with equal fury and devotion of 
" discordant councils •," of " the lofty titles of 
4 < metropolitans and primates which aspiring 
u bishops acquired j" and of 44 the emulation 
44 of pre-eminence and power which prevailed 
u among the metropolitans themselves." 

There also we read of bishops 44 who were 
44 unfaithful stewards of the riches of the 
" church, and lavished them in sensual plea- 
41 sures, or perverted them to the purposes of 
" private' gain, of fraudulent purchases, and of 
44 rapacious usury 

All this, and more to the like purpose, is re- 
lated in a section which professedly treats of 

* Decline and Fall, vol. i. p. 582. 583. 589, 590, 
591.594.598. 

Ff 



338 CHAPTER V. 

the mighty consequences arising from " the 
44 union and discipline of the primitive church." 

Thus it appears, that the things which Mr 
Gibbon considered as secondary or human 
causes, efficaciously promoting the Christian re- 
ligion, either tended to retard its progress, or 
were the manifest operations of the wisdom and 
power of Gcd. 



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